All Outside Appearances
by Ciume
Summary: A double homicide with dark secrets, and a new CSI joins the MDPD (HC ish)
1. Chapter One

Chapter One

A/N: They are not mine, they will never be mine. Blah blah fishpaste. Jo is mine though. Mwahahaha. For Buffy and Princess Kat, my marvellous betas. And for Chi.

Oh, P.S, I'm an Aussie, so this is set before Season 3. If I killed Speed, I too would be dead. And this is sorta H/C, not yet, well not in this story. But it's designed to be. Thanks muchly for reading, and please review. No flames though, bad children. If you hate it, tough noogies.

-/-/-

"...Your first appearance, he said to me, is the gauge by which you will be measured; try to manage that you may go beyond yourself in after times, but beware of ever doing less..." (Roseau)

-/-/-

"Welcome back listeners, that was Lou Reed with Walk on the Wild Side, and you're listening to an all request afternoon on WFLC 97.3: Your Music Key to the Beaches. On this cloudy September day, it's a hot one! Even at the current hour of 5 pm, it's still a balmy 80 degrees outside, so remember to keep cool this Monday night. Now playing is a dedication to one lucky listener Kate, from an unrequited love, someone who says that although you may have forgotten your anniversary, his flame for you still burns bright. Here's the Big O with 'Only You'..."

She switched the radio in her rental car off with a dejected sigh, pulling the car left, around the corner, edging her nearer to the motel. The groceries in the backseat rustled indignantly, as if hating her for shifting their centre of gravity.

She glanced in the rear-view mirror, judged traffic, and then pulled right into the parking lot, fronted by a glowing neon sign, buzzing the word 'Vacancies'. The motel was masquerading as a place of residence for her until she found something a little more permanent. _'Let's wait and see how your first day goes,'_ she thought, the brakes squealing as she stopped and put the car into park.

"Home sweet Home," she muttered to herself, turning off the ignition and unfastening her seatbelt. Exiting the car, she glanced around, judging her vehicle's proximity to the lines of her allotted parking space.

'_Four years and I still can't bloody park their cars.'_ She thought offhandedly, as she collected her shopping and made for the door of her unit.

As she opened the door, she wiped her brow, displacing the beads of sweat gathered there. "Welcome to Miami," she said, as she dumped the bags and gazed around the room. "Your new home." A disparagingly empty 3 star motel room.

-/-/-

"Hey let me in man! I've been waiting in this line for over half an hour!" Scott said, pulling his date Rebecca closer, into his body.

She looked up, sighing deeply. _'Damn those chat rooms.'_ She thought, _'they really do get your hopes up, don't they?'_ This one sure was a live wire: aggressive and snappy.

'_A real man.'_ _'As compared to what?'_ a snide voice in her head shot back. She blinked, the only outwards sign of the internal debate raging on inside her head. Turning back, she saw the bouncer lift the rope in front of them indicating their entrance into the club.

"Finally," Scott mumbled curtly as he escorted his 'date' inside.

Rebecca shot the bouncer an apologetic look from under her eyelashes, as they made their way through the doors of 'Beatbox', a newly opened dance hotspot on the Miami 'scene'. The multitude of people inside gyrated around wildly to the loud music, letting off the stresses of daily modern working life, in a mix of sweat and alcohol. Rebecca looked around, seeing if she could spot anyone else she knew.

"Hey babe?" a voice called her back. "Wanna drink?" She replied absently, feeling Scott pull his arm from around her and presumably head off towards the bar to order them... whatever.

After a few moments observing the dance floor, Rebecca gravitated to a table, placing her small purse and jacket upon it. She stood, watching, her hips and legs moving to the beat automatically. _'You can take a girl out of the music, but you can't take the music out of the girl.'_ She mused, biting the inside of her lip in thought. She felt him return a few minutes later, as he loudly placed their drinks on the table.

"Here babe, Gotcha a cocktail, one of those, 'Screaming Orgasm' things. Hope that's okay." She faced him, nodding her consent coupled with a small smile, as she lifted it and placed the straw to her lips. "Here's to making it a night of many 'screaming orgasms'." He said, whispering his suggestive toast into her ear.

She raised her eyebrows slightly, smiling falsely around her drink. At her look, he placed his hand boldly on her arse. She froze, tensing a little, keeping her eyes on the dance floor. Suddenly, someone caught her eye, heading out back, a familiar face.

She smiled softly and then placed her drink back down on the table.

She turned into him. "I'm just going to go freshen up in the ladies room." She said, batting her lashes innocently at him. He nodded, "Don't take too long."

She smiled. "Try not to," she replied as she picked up her purse and headed out back in the direction of the ladies bathroom. He watched her go, weaving her way through the bouncing party animals and gyrating drunkards towards the exit.

-/-/-

"Morning H."

A voice greeted Lieutenant Horatio Caine as he stepped from his Hummer into the early morning sun. A quarter of the new day had passed, and already the CSI's of the Miami Dade crime lab were needed.

Heading his team, Horatio's sense of justice and compassion always seemed to supersede the exhaustion and strain that tainted a job like theirs. Especially on mornings such as these: a multiple murder scene before the rest of Miami awoke for breakfast.

"Speed- what have you got?" He asked as he pulled his forensic case from the backseat, locked the doors and walked purposefully in the direction of his fellow criminalist.

Tim Speedle looked decidedly appropriate for the early hour of 6 am, with his semi- crumpled attire and only mildly tamed bed-head. He looked like he'd foregone the use of a razor, as usual, in lieu of being on time to the scene. Speed was standing behind the familiar crime scene tape that cornered off an alley, not an entirely uncommon location; camera slung around his neck.

As he approached, Horatio gazed steadily around the scene, his eyes hidden from view by his customary dark shades.

The alley was on the side of an old warehouse- newly refurbished and sold off to one of many profiteering Miami businessmen.

The younger man waited until his boss was within earshot to reply. "Two D.B's, apparent gunshot wounds." He said as H moved under the tape to step in beside him. "Both were found by a bartender, who was closing up for the night. They had come from inside the building, a new nightclub ah, 'Beatbox'. It's been open all of three days, been busy through word of mouth, not open quite long enough to be famous."

Speed reeled off steadily as Horatio took in the scene before them.

"But long enough to become infamous. Especially after today." Horatio said, as he moved towards the first body, setting down his kit and pulling out a pair of latex gloves.

"Yeah, great publicity." Speed replied as he walked over to join H by the victim, a young woman, lying on her stomach about 10 feet in from the street. Horatio leaned over to examine the back of the victim carefully.

"Bet the owner's happy." He murmured, gazing intently at the clothing on the victim. "Yeah, Tripp is talking with him now. Bartender called him, then us. Talk about priorities." Speed said, snapping off a few set shots as H placed the yellow evidence markers down for him and then stood up. "Speaking of which, have you called Alexx yet?"

Speed snapped off another shot, "She's on her way, Calleigh in tow. Wouldn't try to pass the ballistics by her." Horatio pulled a wry smile at the thought of their resident 'Bullet Girl' and what she would do to her friend had he tried. "Good call Speed. What else do you know?"

Speed paused, and glanced up at his boss.

"Ah, both died from single gun shot wounds, the first victim, one shot to the head, the second victim, single shot to the chest." He said, pointing to the other body lying further down the alley. "Alexx can tell you more. Haven't got any formal id's yet so I couldn't tell you if there is a link between the two victims- I didn't get a chance to finish the initial walk through before you got here. There's broken glass in the doorway there, can't tell whether it's got anything to do with the scene, but I'll bag it anyway. Also, there doesn't seem to be any additional shell casings other than a single casing for each victim, whether or not they were even killed with the same gun is up to Cal though, when she gets here. I also found some saliva next to the body of the victim here. Took a sample before it walked away on the bottom of someone's shoe."

He finished, glancing down to the body.

"Good call Speed," H said, standing up.

"Hello gentlemen." The soft voice of their resident M.E called to the two men who had paused at her greeting.

"Morning Alexx," Horatio replied, the trend of lost formalities continuing.

"Horatio, Speed, what have we got?" Alexx asked as she made her way towards them and crouched down in front of them, her eyes methodically sweeping the dead soul in front of her. She opened her kit and pulled on their compulsory latex gloves.

"Two bodies, both single gun shot wounds."

Alexx's gentle hand pressed lightly against the head of the young woman, slumped on the concrete. "Not a fun way to end a night, was it sugar?" She whispered gently. "Can I move her Speed?" She asked him, not wanting to disturb any evidence that he hadn't collected yet. "

Yeah, I'm done photographing her," He replied, gesturing to her to continue her examination. Alexx nodded at his consent, and pulled the body over onto it's back.

"All right, let's see what they did to you sugar," she waited as Speed snapped off a few more shots for the evidence log before pulling out a pair of tweezers. "Gun shot wound to the head, left temple. Stippling around the wound, close range shot," she gently felt around the wound area, "Judging by the degree of damage to the skull, it was probably point blank range. I'll know more after the prelim." She said as she moved back to her kit and removed an electronic thermometer and scalpel before turning back to the victim.

The guys watched as she made a small cut under the woman's ribcage before inserting the thermometer. "But I can tell you that she's been dead approximately..." she paused, waiting for the readout off the thermometer before making mental calculations, "4 hours, which places her time of death at about 2 am." She finished, pulling out the thermometer and turning back to the men, where Speed was jotting down notes.

"Alright, what about the other victim Alexx?" Horatio asked, indicating to the other body behind them. "Let's have a look, shall we?" Alexx said, as he helped her up and they moved towards the other woman's body lying 8 feet away from the first.

Speed took shots of the body, marking it before they moved it. Alexx stood over the body placing her kit back down to her right. "Okay sweetheart, let's have a look at you," she said, leaning over the girl. "Another gun shot wound, on the upper chest cavity, no stippling this time. The point of entry is larger, so I'd say that she was shot from further away. Calleigh can tell you more when she gets here."

"I'd say from about 6 feet away." They all turned around, startled slightly at the sudden appearance of their colleague. Calleigh was squatting down next to the first body, examining the head wound with her mag light. "What?" Speed said, confused. "The distance from which the second victim was shot. From what you said about the wound, I'd say that the shooter was standing about 6 feet away from the victim when they shot her." She stood up, smiling at them.

"How could you possibly tell that without seeing the wound?" Speed asked, astounded.

"I'm magic Speed. Didn't anybody tell you?" she said, shooting a wry look at Horatio as she sauntered past to join Alexx in examining the second victim.

"So what would you say was cause of death?" Horatio asked as Alexx and Calleigh moved to allow the coroner's assistants in to prepare the body for transportation.

Alexx glanced at the first body, then back to the second. "Initial assessment, first victim, could be suicide, but not entirely sure. Stippling makes it hard to get a proper look at the wound track, so it could be a homicide." Alexx said, looking back at Horatio. Speed frowned, "But if this was a suicide, who shot the other woman?"

"That's the question isn't it?" Horatio replied, placing his hands on his hips. "Who died first, and whether or not we should be looking for another possible suspect. Everything's equivocal here, so let's play this as a double homicide." He said, as he replaced his shades and looked down the alley to where the assistants were moving the first body into the van.

"Speed, finish up here. Calleigh, stay and comb for casings and fragments. If there are no bullets here, they must be in the victim so once you're done, follow Alexx back to the lab and start work on the wound tracks and any evidence you find during the prelim. I'll be back once I've talked with Tripp." He finished, moving towards the street to find the detective. "Will do H," Speed said, moving away to start photographing the back exit. "See you back at the lab Horatio," Calleigh called out as she moved across the alley to start searching for anything that might help their victims.

-/-/-

As Horatio ducked under the yellow tape and started towards the entrance of the club, Detective Frank Tripp came jogging up to him.

"Hey Lieutenant," he said, coming to stop beside the CSI leader.

"Detective," H said, glancing at the man from below his shades. "How'd you land this case?" He asked, a small smile crossing his features as they allowed a little joviality. "Apparently I was the only one on duty," Tripp scoffed casually, "More like I was the only one awake at this hour." Horatio smiled and glanced back towards the alley.

"Lucky you," he replied.

"Yeah, I'd say. Listen Horatio," the detective started, flipping open his notebook, "I've talked to the club owner, One Nelson Lamont, who's offered 'any and all assistance he can, if it assists in capturing the man who perpetrated this wholly unkind, and heinous act'. Quote, end quote." H cocked an eyebrow at the sardonic tone of the detective's voice.

"That's awfully co-operative of him," he said, placing his hands on his hips and watching the M.E's van pull away with the victim's inside.

Tripp glanced back down into his notes, a wry smile touching his face. "Yeah, you'd think for a minute that he actually cared."

Horatio looked back at the detective, "Did he mention anything about his security details or when we can talk to the barman who found the bodies?"

Tripp paused, "Ahh," he flipped a page in his notebook, "Lamont said that they have security cameras filming the entrances, the main bar room, the dance floor and the back entrance. He said that we can come by and get the tapes as soon as we want them."

Horatio nodded, dropping his gaze to the ground as he waited for the older detective to continue. "And as for the barman, a younger man by the name of James Mitchell. He gave his preliminary statement to the responding uniform, waited for the boss to show and then left. But I'll haul him in later to get a more detailed version of events." Tripp sighed and glanced up at the CSI, who looked up from deep in thought. "Good, call me when you do, I want a word with Mr Mitchell." Tripp nodded at H, anticipating seeing the poor schmuck being raked over the coals by the Lieutenant for leaving the scene.

"In the mean time, Calleigh and Speed are finishing up here and then heading back. I'll get Speed to grab those security tapes. Is the responding uniform still here?" H finished, glancing around until he spotted a uniform standing guard at the crime scene entrance. Both men were conscious of the protocol for scenes, and Horatio for the continuing safety of his colleagues. The uniform noticed his attention and shifted, his gaze straight ahead and focused, not wanting to appear lax or disinterested.

"Okay," H said, as he and Frank both glanced back to the street, as Miami started to move for the day. "I've got a meeting to attend. Page me when you bring in the barman." Tripp smiled as the criminalist started to move off.

"You got it. See you back at HQ Caine." He said as Horatio made his way off to gather his field kit and then head back to the lab, the mental checklist going through his mind as the rest of the crew started the move off, all eager to try and move away from the grisly scene before them and blend back into the fall morning.

-/-/-

The morgue doors greeted Horatio as he made his way towards the lab. He pushed the doors open with his shoulder, as he made a note in his palm pilot before tucking it away in his jacket pocket. "Sorry I'm late," he said, noting Alexx, Calleigh and Speed were all standing there, waiting patiently for his arrival.

"So, Alexx, what do we have?" He asked, his attention fully on the M.E and the tables in front of them.

She glanced up at him from the chart in front of her, noting he had automatically adopted his familiar stance of hands on hips, attentive, but guarded.

"Victim Number One," she started, lifting the white sheet away from the woman's face, smoothing back an errant hair gently. "Gun shot to the chest. I.D'd her from her driver's licence; Kate Shannyn O'Garr, age 27, a local, but so far there's no missing persons report and neither her fingerprints nor D.N.A are in the system." He nodded softly, cocking his head in thought.

"You got a cause of death yet?" He asked, glancing up at the M.E.

"Asphyxiation caused by exsanguination. One gunshot wound to the chest, no stippling or tattooing. Bullet entered the chest, took out one lung and a blood vessel. She bled out into her chest cavity, until she choked to death. I got some residual gun shot residue on her blouse, packed it up and it's ready for Trace."

Calleigh stepped in, next to Alexx, holding a little plastic evidence bag in her hand. "We got a 9mm bullet that Alexx pulled from the body. Luckily it's still intact, so I'll run it through IBIS, see if we get a match."

Horatio smiled gently at her, thankful for the tenacity and diligence that was Calleigh Duquesne. "Anything else Ladies?"

Alexx gently picked up the hand of the girl, holding it gently out to H. "Yeah, I found some oily residue on her hand. It looks like make-up, but the colour doesn't match her own. I've swabbed that too. See if it matches the other victim. Speaking of which," she said, dropping the arm and moving over to the next table to pull back the sheet. "You've got a surprise package here. She had no ID in her handbag, however," she said, picking up a bowl from the table next to the body, "You can trace her through these, her breast implants." She said, tipping the bowl to show the others.

"Well, that's not surprising Alexx. Women get plastic surgery here all the time." Calleigh said. Alexx shook her head, placing the bowl back down and heading to the feet of the victim.

"Oh, but that's nothing. I noticed a few abnormalities during the autopsy," She said, pulling back the sheet dramatically. "There were no internal reproductive organs, no ovaries or uterus. Nothing."

"So she may have had a hysterectomy?" Calleigh said, not knowing what was so extraordinary. Alexx shook her head.

"There's no scarring which would be consistent for an operation like that. But I did find evidence of another kind of operation. Try plastic surgery, gender reconstruction."

"A sex-change? Our victim's a guy?" Speed asked, a disbelieving look on his face that lifted his eyebrows towards his hairline.

"Used to be." Alexx said. "Did a blood sample just to be sure. From the scarring, I'd say she had the operation about a year ago."

Horatio nodded again, shifting to study the face of the victim. "Did you get any evidence from her?"

Alexx nodded, replacing the sheet, and picking up some bags and envelopes. "Pulled another 9mm from her head, impacted. That's what killed her, bullet went straight into the temporal lobe, ricocheted around her skull, severing the blood vessel. Also pulled some glass fragments from the cuts in her hand and got some saliva on her chest. It's all here ready to be processed." She finished, stopping for the ring tone belonging to Horatio Caine.

"Excuse me," Horatio said, pulling his protesting phone out of his pocket and stepping away to answer it.

"So Alexx," Calleigh said, turning back to the woman, "About the entry wound? Do you think that it was suicide or that there was a third party involved?"

Alexx sighed and probed the wound once more. "From the looks of it, I would say that it wasn't a suicide. But you're going to have to determine that for me." She said, glancing back up to the blonde.

"So, H, any news on when our new recruit will be getting here?" Speed asked, looking as his boss as Horatio deposited his phone back in his jacket pocket, and rejoined the group around the gurney.

The week before, Head Quarters had informed them that they would finally be filling the position that had been vacated by Megan Donner's departure over a year ago. Horatio had been in meetings ever since to try and ascertain why they felt the need to do so now, but had been brick-walled with budgetary and overtime excuses, and with promises that this didn't have any reflection on his current employee's performances. Nevertheless, it had still bothered the tight knit team.

"Right now. She's here." Horatio said, glancing up from his observation of the body to the surprise and shock on the face of his colleagues.

"Wow." Calleigh said, blinking, "that was fast. I'm surprised. They actually meant it when they said they were sending a replacement."

Speed nodded in agreement. "Yeah, with all the empty threats they've made, I was half expecting them to send a blow up doll."

At that comment, Calleigh turned to send an unimpressed look at Speed, her eyes narrowing at the man, who immediately shot off a hastened "Sorry."

Horatio cleared his throat and shot a bemused look at the two of them.

"Right, I had better get going before she thinks we don't want her here. Keep me posted Alexx." He said, moving off out of the morgue, towards his office, where Claudia had sent the newest addition to the Miami Dade Crime Lab.

Watching him as he left, the others glanced back to Alexx who was intently examining the hands of the 'woman' lying on her table.

"What is it Alexx?" Speed asked, glancing quickly at Calleigh.

"Looks like she has something under her fingernails. Can you hand me that wooden pick?" She asked, shifting her hand to the victim's wrist so she could get a better grip.

Speed glanced to the medical tray standing next to the table, picked up the wooden stick and an envelope and handed it to the M.E. Alexx muttered a "thanks" as she ran the tip underneath the nails of the victim, Calleigh and Speed watching in respectful silent.

"You wanna do her left hand for me?" She asked, her attention on her work as she scraped under the thumbnail.

Speed nodded and picking up another envelope and pick, followed suite. Calleigh watched them, chewing her lip impatiently, knowing that the evidence that was being scraped could open the case up definitively if the epitheliales didn't match either victim. Alexx stood up from over the body to close the envelope and then recorded the sample, waiting for Speed to finish. He stood and then glanced at the two women.

"I'll take this to DNA and then see how Eric's doing in court. See you later." He collected Alexx's envelope and then made his way out of the lab, leaving the women there.

"Now," Alexx said, "let's take another look at the entry wound." Calleigh smiled, her face brightening with the idea of doing something constructive. "And then we can try and map the trajectory." She said, moving towards the table to stand opposite Alexx.

-/-/-

Horatio walked up the stairs to his office, trying to centre his mind in the coming conversation. He was a little perturbed that he hadn't been able to 'handpick' the latest employee, unlike he had the others, but he was hopeful that those 'Higher Up' had made a good decision. Glancing at the file he had grabbed from reception, her credentials spoke for themselves, and the little personal information that was there was all glowing and encouraging and spoke volumes about her attitude.

But H was still wary; he was still to see her work or how she would work with the other members of the team. He sighed as he reached the top of the stairs and opened the door to his office.

He stopped inside the door as he spotted her, their newest criminalist as she rifled around in her shoulder bag, holding her left hand out, the tip of her left hand index finger extended and alone. Horatio took her momentary distraction to study her.

She was about Calleigh's height, maybe an inch or so taller, her dark brown hair, held off her face by her sunglasses, was cut short to her shoulders. She looked young, younger than the rest of the team, but held an air of strength and intelligence.

He shifted, moving his right hand to his hip, and then coughed softly, alerting her to his arrival. The woman turned around quickly, a startled look on her face. Her eyes studied him quickly before blinking and dropping his gaze.

"Hi," she said, moving towards Horatio, "You must be Lieutenant Caine. I'm sorry if I'm not meant to be in here, it's just the receptionist; Claudia, said this is where I could wait for you." She trailed off, a small apologetic smile on her lips.

Horatio nodded, shutting the office door and moving towards his desk. "It's fine, I assure you. I'm just sorry I kept you waiting, Ms..." he paused, stopping at the introductions.

"Adams," she jumped in, "Joselyn Adams, Jo." She said, holding out her right hand. "Lieutenant Horatio Caine." He said, taking her hand and shaking it.

"I know. I've heard a lot about you, Lieutenant." She said, sitting down as Horatio guided her to a chair in front of his desk. He noticed that her voice had a different accent, not American, flatter but it still had twinges that came from living permanently in America.

As he sat down, he placed her file on the desk, and watched her quietly put her handbag on the ground and pull up to face him, nursing her left hand in her lap. "Would you like a tissue?" He asked, pulling one from the box on his desk and reaching across to the woman opposite him.

"Thank you," She said, taking it from his extended hand. "What an introduction, hey." Jo mused quietly, keeping her eyes on the task of wrapping the white Kleenex around her bleeding finger. She glanced quickly up at Horatio who was reading her file. "Hi, I'm your new serologist, here's my blood."

Horatio smiled at her self-reproach, keeping his head down so she wouldn't see his smile. "So, how long have you been in America?" He asked, glancing up at the woman, to find her staring at him in surprise.

"Ah," she said, shaking her head in confusion. She paused, and Horatio saw a strange look speed quickly through her eyes. "Just over four years." She replied solemnly.

He nodded, a little confused at her reaction, and then cleared his throat. "And how long have you been studying serology?" She smiled, apparently happy to talk shop.

"Over eight years. I did three years of a B.S Molecular Biology degree back home in Australia at Sydney University, then transferred over on exchange to NYU to do my post-grad and masters. I completed my B.S and M.S. whilst studying American Law, which took two years. And while I was studying, I was also doing practicum work at a pathology lab in New York to pay the bills. I've spent the last two years as a serologist and full time field agent for the Passaic County Sheriff's office in Paterson, New Jersey. And now I'm here." She said, smiling flippantly. Horatio nodded softly, keeping his gaze on the file for a moment.

"Well, it'll be good to have another member on our team Joselyn. I'm sure that you'll do well here." He said, moving up to observe her.

"Thank you. I hope so Lieutenant. I'm glad to be here."

Horatio smiled. "Well, then," he said, closing the file and setting it down gently on the desk. "Let's show you around the lab, and introduce you to the rest of the team." He stood up and moved to the door, waiting for her to follow him.

She joined him at the door and looked below to the bustling lab technicians and beeping machines. Horatio smiled gently at the nervous look that flew across her face. He pulled open the door and gestured to her to exit.

"Welcome to the Miami-Dade Crime Lab." Her light brown eyes moved quickly to study him before looking back out to the soon-to-be familiar labs.

"Let's hope so." She murmured, as she headed down the stairs in front of her new boss. "Let's hope so."

TBC


	2. Chapter Two

Disclaimers and such on Chapter One. For my betas Buffy and Princess Kat. For Chi and my clone.

/>>

"…It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not…" (Gide)

/>>

"Hey Speed, how's it going?" Speed looked up to see Eric Delko walk casually into the trace lab, his walk a stark difference from the formal suit and tie that he was wearing. Delko had been asked to testify in court on an old case of his, in which he had ruled it accidental death instead of homicide. Today was the court date, a nervous day for any CSI in which they are, personally and professionally, scrutinised by the entire judicial system.

"What are you doing here Eric? Aren't you supposed to be testifying or something?" Speed shot back, turning his attention back to the clothing in front of him, that of the second victim- who was still a Jane Doe until they managed to track down the plastic surgeon who had transformed her.

"Not yet," Delko said, coming around the desk to stand opposite his friend, who was slowly moving a magnifying glass over the dress. "The defence got a continuance until tomorrow. So, it was a waste of a morning, really."

"I wouldn't say that," Speed replied, "It's not that often that we get to see you dressed up like a penguin in the name of justice."

"Yeah well, don't think we don't laugh at you." Eric shot back, a bemused smile on his face at the memory of the normally scruffy and informally attired Tim Speedle in the old tux. Speed looked up to shoot a small glare at his friend before going back to his currently fruitless examination.

"So, I heard about your case from this morning. That must have been an interesting autopsy."

"Not really," Tim replied noncommittally, leaning down over the dress, tweezers in hand. "Plastic surgeons get paid to do really realistic work, so you couldn't really tell. Our suspect however," he said, catching something in his tweezers and pulling back to show Eric the short dark hair. "Didn't do a brilliant job."

"That's not your vic's?" Eric replied, picking up an envelope from the table and passing it to his colleague. "Nope," he replied, dropping it safely into the evidence and placing it back on the table, "the victim who wore this dress, her hair was longer, and the other victim was blonde." Eric nodded, as Speed moved back to the dress, hoping to find another piece of the now definite third person. "So, it confirms the double homicide theory, then?" Speed nodded, murmuring in agreement. "Looks like it."

"Looks like what, gentlemen?" Came the voice of their supervisor from the door. Both men looked up to find Horatio at the door of the room, and an unfamiliar woman standing just behind him.

"Oh, hey H." Eric said, looking quickly at Horatio and then past him to the woman. "Eric, Speed. What looks like it?" Horatio asked, his intense gaze bringing Speed out of his study of the newest member of the lab. "Ah, I found a hair on the dress, looks like it doesn't belong to either of our victims. I'll give it to Valera to run through CODIS, see if she gets a hit off something." Horatio nodded, and then turned around to the woman who was standing nervously in the doorway, clutching her bag to her body. "Gentlemen, this is Joselyn Adams,"

"Jo." She interjected, causing Horatio to pause momentarily.

"She's our new serologist and field analyst. Jo, this is Tim Speedle," he gestured to Speed, who nodded in recognition, "and Eric Delko," who held up his hand in greeting. "They are part of our team here at the lab, your new colleagues." Jo smiled gently at the men, and moved forward towards them.

"It's a pleasure to meet you guys."

Speed's brow furrowed at the sound of her voice. "You don't sound like you're from around here."

She smiled, shaking her head. "No, I'm not. I'm Australian, but I've spent the last four years here." Both men nodded at the information. Eric glanced quickly at Speed before asking, "So what made you decide to move to the U.S?"

"Better job opportunities. The field of forensics is a little more advanced here than back home. So, I thought that I would finish off my degree here and then return home. Four years on and I still haven't gone home, much to my parent's chagrin." She retorted, causing all of the men smiled at her comment.

"Eric," H said after a moment, "What happened about court today?" Eric shifted, caught by the sudden change in subject. "The defence were granted a continuance. I'm on call until they decide to put me on the stand, which could be any time until up until tomorrow afternoon." Horatio nodded slowly.

"Okay, well until that time, help Speed out with the processing. We need to identify the victim so we can notify the family. Try missing persons first, then try and get a hit off the implants." He said, moving out the door with Jo trailing behind.

"Okay H. See you later." Eric called out to him as he walked down towards ballistics. When he turned back to Speed, he saw that Speed had resumed his inspection.

"So, that's our new CSI, huh." He said, watching Speed.

"Yep. That's her," Speed replied, not looking up from his work. "Why?"

Eric shook his head. "Ah, nothing really. Just not who I had imagined as a replacement for Megan, that's all." Speed glanced up at his friend from under his brow. "What?" Eric exclaimed at the sharp look his friend gave him. "I didn't mean it like that. She's just, not what I expected, okay?"

"Well," Speed started, glancing back to Eric, "You never know what to expect working our job. There is always something unusual happening, people are always thinking up new and inventive ways of killing each other."

Eric smiled, nodding. "Yeah," As he went to open his mouth to reply, his pager buzzed quietly on his hip. Frowning, he glanced at the number. _'D.A.'_.

"I'm needed back in court. I'll see you later." He threw at a preoccupied Speed as he left the trace lab.

"Yeah later." Tim replied quietly, lifting another short hair off the dress.

/>>

"Hey Horatio." Calleigh said, her head bent over a microscope. From the door, he smiled softly; amazed at her ability to know it was him before he'd even said anything.

"Calleigh." He replied, walking into the ballistics lab, Jo once again, trailing behind him. The blonde looked up from her inspection to jot something down on her notes before turning to face Horatio and his guest.

"Calleigh, this is Joselyn Adams, our new CSI. Jo, this is Calleigh Duquesne, resident ballistics and firearms expert." He said, pride tinging his voice at her introduction. "Don't forget tool marks," Calleigh interjected, smiling, "Hi, it's a pleasure to meet you." Jo smiled at the warm welcome.

"Thanks. It's great to meet you too. It's not that often you meet a female ballistics specialist, especially one who's reputation precedes her." Jo replied, glancing around the lab quickly. Calleigh blushed softly at the compliment, ducking her head.

"So," she said, clearing her throat, "where did you work before coming to Miami?" she asked, gazing at the serologist who was walking around the room, studying it. "Passaic County, New Jersey, before that a pathology lab in New York. And before I came to the US, I worked at a student lab at the University of Sydney back home."

Calleigh's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Sydney, Australia? Is that where you're from?" Jo nodded absently, her attention caught at the specimen Cal was currently examining.

"Sort of. I've been working and studying here in the states the last four years." She replied, looking up from the microscope to the two standing watching her.

"Is the field of forensic science very different here than it is in Australia?"

Jo paused a moment, thinking. "In some ways, yes. For instance, we don't get half as many ballistics cases back home as compared to here. Government clamped down on possession of personal weapons in 1996, which was before my time. One psycho massacre too many for their liking. So the criminals have to cope without guns, not an entirely bad thing really."

Calleigh crossed her arms over her chest, a closed expression taking residence in her features. "Really?" Her blue-green eyes narrowing as she watched the younger woman continue to 'invade' her lab. Jo once again nodded.

Horatio saw Calleigh's defiant and angry posture and leaned in to whisper, "Breathe Cal" in her ear softly. As he pulled back, he saw her shoot him an annoyed twitch of a smile, rolling her eyes softly as she did so. "How's the testing going?" He asked, trying to take Calleigh's tense gaze away from the brunette. "Any hits?"

"Nothing. The bullet's definitely a 9mm Parabellum, but there are no hits off IBIS or NIBIN." She sent him a silent apology as he nodded slowly. "Have you run it through the system to see if it's registered to either of our victims or any of their relatives?"

"Got me an ID yet?" she shot back to her leader, cocking her eyebrow playfully. Horatio smiled at her comment. "Still working on it."

"Well tell me when you do, so I can check off her family. But there's nothing registered to the first victim, Kate O'Garr or any of her family members." H nodded at the lack of luck they were currently having with finding a lead in the case, but he knew that once they had identified the Jane Doe, the case would open up and it would feel like they are actually getting somewhere.

"Okay then," he said, returning his thoughts to the present and cocking his head gently. "I'll get back to you. Keep me posted." He smiled at Calleigh before looking up to find the newest recruit watching them.

"Are we continuing our tour, Lieutenant?" She asked, a neutral but knowing expression lighting her eyes, as she watched the interplay between the pair.

Calleigh smirked softly as the idea of Horatio playing tour guide, complete with tacky uniform and perky voice, flitted across her mind. _'And to our left…'_ She quickly turned back around to her microscope before he saw her smile, picking up her pen to make it look like she was working.

Horatio nodded at Jo, "I'll be back later Calleigh. In the meantime, ask Speed if he's got an ID yet. If not, can you run the implants serial number yourself?" She nodded, "You got it Horatio." He smiled gently at her back before turning and exiting her lab. Calleigh turned to watch them go, sighing softly. They rounded the corner, finally out of her sight, leaving Calleigh to her work.

/>>

Eric sighed deeply as he clicked the button on the mouse again. He was sitting in one of the layout rooms, scrolling through the missing persons reports. On the computer next to him, the screen was rolling as the system scrolled through the serial number that they had taken from the second victim's saline breast implants.

It had been four hours since he had returned from court, making it four hours that he had been sitting here 'thumbing the pages'.

Physically, he was heading into overtime and getting his second wind, but mentally, he was exhausted.

Shaking his head, Eric rolled his stiff neck muscles and rubbed his eyes. He was trying to refocus his eyes to the screen when a voice came from the door.

"Hard at work I see, or are you sleeping on the job?"

Eric turned to find Calleigh standing there, a coffee in one hand. He smiled at her jibe, turning back to the screen. "You wish. I was just trying to get an ID on the victim, thought that it might help if you knew who she was." He said turning back to Cal, who had walked over to sit in the seat next to him.

"That's awfully kind of you Eric. I know that Horatio's been trying all day to get one of us to run the serial number, but it seems that you beat us to it." She said, glancing at the screen reeling through the plastic surgeon's database. "Any luck?"

He shook his head gently, clicking the mouse to scroll through another missing person's description.

"Here, I brought you this, thought that it might help, considering we're heading into the nightshift." Cal handed him the ceramic mug that was filled with his special Cuban blend of coffee. Eric smiled gratefully as he took it off her and placed it down on the table.

"Thanks Cal," he said, glancing back up at the screen next to him as it started to beep incessantly at him. "Looks like we got a hit off of the serial number." They both moved to the monitor on his left, in front of Calleigh. "The implants belong to a Ms Rebecca Lee, had the operation a year ago yesterday." He said, looking at Calleigh. She nodded, "That substantiates what Alexx said in the autopsy. She said the scarring from the sexual reassignment operation looked about a year old, which means that she had the implants done at the same time. Now, all we got to do is run her name through DMV and see where she lives." She shot Eric one of her bright, trademark grins. "Thank you Eric." She stood up and moved back to the door, patting Eric on the shoulder on her way past. "Now go home, before you make the rest of us look bad."

He smiled gently as the entity that was Calleigh Duquesne breezed out of the room in search of their intrepid leader to share the name of their victim.

/>>

Horatio and Calleigh glanced at each other as they sat opposite Joseph and Susan Lee, the grieving parents of the former Jane Doe, Rebecca. It was early the next morning, just over twenty-four hours since she had been found in the alley. The previous night, Horatio had sent Tripp and a uniform around to the house to inform them of the unfortunate death of their daughter, not wanting them to have to wait until the next morning until they found out. Frank had accompanied the CSI's this morning, and was standing back away from them, letting the criminalists have their chance to talk to the victim's parents. The couple were casually dressed, in their mid-fifty's, sitting fused together sitting in the living room of their family home, where Rebecca still resided.

"Mr and Mrs Lee, I'm terribly sorry for your loss, but we still have a few questions that we need to ask regarding your daughter. Is that alright with you?" Calleigh asked softly, sitting on the recliner next to the couch the couple were sharing. Her voice was gentle and soothing compared to the stifled sounds of Mrs Lee's sobbing. A tissue covered her nose and mouth, slowly becoming crumpled and sodden in her mourning. Gripping her hand tightly her husband looked to the visitors.

"We thought that, once she had had the operation, all this would stop. That she would be happier, more comfortable in her own skin. It's just hard to believe that this has happened, especially now. This last year has been so difficult on Rebecca." He trailed off, his voice catching in his throat. Horatio shot a look at Calleigh, who nodded softly.

"I'm sorry to have to ask you this, but was your daughter suicidal?" He asked tenderly, his sapphire eyes full of sympathy and regret. It was hard asking these seemingly insensitive questions.

The heads of both parents shot quickly to Horatio, affixing their looks of shock and disgust squarely at the lieutenant opposite them. Calleigh sent him a sympathetic smile out of the corner of his eye. "It wasn't easy what she did, you know. Telling people about the operation and everything. Not everyone is as tolerant and supportive as we are… were." Susan started, maternal instincts lashing out in defence of her daughter.

H dropped his head to the side, frowning slightly. "I can imagine, but do you think that your daughter could have taken her own life?" Susan shook her head vehemently, the tissue moving back to her nose as a fresh flood of tears took her.

"No," Joseph said, placing an arm around his wife, "there is no way. Rebecca was doing so well. She was happier, smiling more. She was even dating again. It was so good to see her going out and enjoying herself again, after all the pain and suffering she'd gone through."

Calleigh edged forward on her seat towards them. "Do you know the name of the person that Rebecca was seeing? If not, can you give us a description of what he looked like?" She shot a hopeful look at her boss, thankful for what might be a solid opening in the case.

The Lee's looked at each other, both silent in thought. Susan spoke first, turning back to the Detectives. "No, not really sorry. All I know is that his name is Scott and she met him through one of those on-line dating services. They were going to meet up the night before last, the night she went missing. Do you think that he might have something to do with what happened?"

"We can't answer that right now, Mrs Lee. But do you think that we could possibly take a look at Rebecca's computer. It might help us track him down." Horatio said, taking over from Calleigh. "Sure," Susan said, "if you think that it will help you find whoever did this to her." Horatio nodded.

"Calleigh." He said, looking at his CSI. She nodded and stood up. "Mr Lee, if you could please show me to where your daughter kept her computer?" Joseph nodded, standing up. He squeezed his wife's hand one last time before escorting Calleigh out of the room towards the stairs.

Horatio watched Mrs Lee before reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out a photo of the other victim. He cleared his throat before fixing his eyes to the woman across from him. "Mrs Lee, do you know if your daughter knew this woman?" He held out to photo of Kate to the woman. Her brows furrowed in study before gasping quickly. "Yes, this is Kate, Rebecca's ex-girlfriend. They met almost 6 years ago now, when Rebecca was still Daniel. They were really serious, even got engaged. They broke up when Rebecca told her the truth about her sexuality, about 3 years ago. Such a lovely girl, Rebecca was devastated; she was her one true love." Susan trailed off, staring sadly at the photo. Horatio smiled faintly, a soft look on his face. He turned at the sound of Calleigh walking back into the room, carrying a laptop computer and a few evidence bags. H stood up and pulled out his sunglasses.

"Thank you for all your help today Mrs Lee. You've been really brave, I know that this can't be easy on you." She nodded gratefully, a tender smile on her face. "Thank you for being so understanding Lieutenant. I'm glad my daughter has you fighting for her." She stood up, greeting her returning husband. "Goodbye."

Horatio nodded, and followed Tripp and Calleigh out of the house. "Did you get anything?" Tripp asked Calleigh as they made their way out of the front door towards the CSI Hummer. "I pulled her personal computer and a few pages of writing, in plain sight I might add, that belonged to the victim. I'll get started on these once we get back to the lab." H nodded, opening the back door of the hummer for Calleigh, who carefully set the evidence down in the car. Both turned back to Tripp who was talking now on his cell phone. They waiting until he finished with "Thank you, Goodbye," until they spoke again.

"Frank, what was that?" Horatio asked, staring at the detective. "Sheriff wants to know where we are up to on the case. Apparently, he has the club owner's lawyers breathing down his neck to get it to re-open. I told him that when we had something, he would too." H grinned wryly. "That he shall."

That moment, his phone chose to sound loudly in his pocket.

"Horatio Caine," Calleigh and Frank watched him patiently as he nodded at the conversation. "Alright, I'll get someone over there as soon as possible."

Horatio snapped his phone shut and glanced up at the others. "Dispatch. Apparently someone got a shock when they opened the front door this morning and found a dead body lying on it." Calleigh's eyebrows shot up in disbelief. "Really? Are we taking it?" He shook his head, replacing his shades and handing the Hummer keys to Calleigh.

"No, we are heading back to the lab. I'll get back to you when we get an ID Frank."

The bald detective nodded, his dark eyes moving from one CSI to the other. "See you later Duquesne." "Bye Frank." She threw back at him as she and Horatio made their way around to their respective sides of the Hummer, she with the keys, Horatio back on his cell phone.

/>>

Eric walked urgently around the lab, trying to find the newest recruit. Horatio had just called to say that Dispatch had received a call about a D.B on a doorstep, and that Detective Yelina Salas was waiting for him and Jo at the scene. He walked into the locker room, knocking on the door as he entered. Joselyn turned quickly in surprise, shutting her locker hastily. "Jesus Delko, you sure know how to sneak up on a girl." She said lightly, moving her body to face him. "Grab your kit, we got a call out. D.B on a doorstep, they're waiting for CSI to get there." He moved to his locker to grab his jacket. Even though it was Miami, the fall weather had moved in with a bite, and the mornings were becoming colder and colder. Jo smiled, reopening her locker and pulling out her own jacket and kit.

"Any other description, other than 'we got a D.B'?"

He shook his head, shutting his locker and heading out of the room, Jo walking next to him. "Male, late 30's, that's it." She nodded as they made their way to the garage.

/>>

"Hey Delko, what took you so long?" Detective Salas asked as the newly arrived CSI's made their way up the front path to where the body was lying. "Where's Horatio?" Eric followed Yelina up the steps of the porch on the front of the house, and stopped at the body, setting his kit down and opening it.

"He's busy with the double homicide from two days ago, so he sent us instead."

She glanced around, "Us?" Eric glanced up from his kit, expecting his new colleague to be with him. "Yeah, Jo, our new CSI. She's…" he trailed off, glancing around, trying to spot her. Turning back to the path, he saw her crouched down over the hedge that lined the front of the house, photographing something.

"Hey Jo!"

Her head pulled up at her name being called out. "Sorry Delko. Spotted something." She stood up and walked up the Eric and Yelina.

"Joselyn Adams, this is Detective Yelina Salas, Homicide. Yelina, this is Jo." Both women nodded at each other, "Hi, nice to meet you." Jo said, studying the detective. "Likewise."

Jo smiled softly before excusing herself to return to processing the hedge. Yelina turned back to the body, as Eric started to photograph it.

"Coroner pronounced half an hour ago. Said he must have been here a while because the body's in full rigor. There's no apparent C.O.D, no signs of a struggle, nothing."

Jo stepped in next to Yelina, holding a swab in one hand. "Did the coroner say anything about vomit anywhere on the victim?"

Yelina turned to look at her, an incredulous look on her face. "Pardon?"

Jo looked up from her study of the porch, her mag light sweeping across it. "I found some vomit on the hedge over there, and if there's some on the victim, I might be able to match it." Jo said, bending down to study a space of floor. Eric glanced at her, a bemused grin on his face, before placing a marker on the ground next to the body. "Have we got an ID yet?" He said, standing up and snapping double shots of the victim's face. "Nothing formal, but the owner of the house, Jason McKenna, aged 45, identified the victim as Seton Johannsen." Yelina said, reading off her notebook.

Eric frowned, glancing quickly at Jo, who was now marking and photographing the entrance and stairs. "They know the victim?"

Yelina nodded, "Seems that Mr Johannsen is the former boyfriend of his wife's best friend, a Ms Jeannie Romany. Apparently, according to Mrs McKenna, they broke up just over a month ago."

Eric snapped off another set of photos before turning to Jo. "Got anything?" He asked. She looked up at him, a small smile on her face. "Do we have an ESDL in the truck? I think I have some footprints. Could be anyone's, but it looks like whoever these prints belong to, walked through the vomit first." Eric winced, a disturbed look on his face. "The dust lifter should be in the back of the Hummer, along with some films."

Jo nodded and walked off in search of the electrostatic dust-print lifter.

Eric turned back to Yelina. "Are the haulers ready to take the body?"

The detective nodded. "Ready when you are. In the meantime, I'm going to talk to the McKenna's again." She headed off back down the porch, passing Jo as she walked towards the back entrance of the house. Jo got to the steps and sat the charger and film box down. Eric watched her as she carefully laid out the sheet of lifting film and set the charge on it. He bent down and grabbed another film from the box, and Jo pointed out where to place it. Four clear footprints later, the haulers came and removed the body, leaving the CSI's to their work.

/>>

Hours later and the two youngest CSI's were standing in the brightly lit morgue, waiting for the arrival of Alexx Woods, the resident M.E, for the autopsy. Eric was pacing slowly gently in front of the doors, occasionally looking over to the middle of stark room, where their male victim would soon be laid out on the autopsy table. Jo sighed from her position leaning against the bench in the corner.

"So, did Detective Salas get anything good out of the witnesses?"

He glanced over to her. "Yeah. She said that they know the victim through the wife's best friend. They said that they met at a health club where our guy worked as a dietician. Apparently he's into alternate therapies and herbal medicine and all that." Jo nodded at Eric's information, as he continued, "The husband, Jason McKenna said found the body about 8:30 this morning, when he went outside to get the newspaper. He also said that during the last month, they had been getting threatening phone calls from Mr Johannsen, and that he'd turned up at their house at all hours of the night."

"So they don't really see our guy as the victim so much." Jo said, frowning. Eric nodded, his pacing almost setting the pace of his words.

"Exactly. But this is where it gets strange, according to the wife, Louise McKenna, Mr Johannsen was the one who broke off the relationship." Jo smiled,

"Ah, the old 'I dumped you but I can't live without you' act." She said, nodding. Eric smiled, stopping his pacing momentarily.

As he went to reply, the doors of the morgue swung open and Alexx walked in pushing a gurney. "Sorry I'm late, this poor man got caught up in processing." She pulled the gurney in along the table, and shot a look to Eric. "Could you give me a hand here please Eric?" He quickly moved to help Alexx pull the stiff body onto the autopsy table, and moved away as Alexx stepped in to start her initial exam.

They all stood in silence as Alexx checked the mouth, nose, eyes and neck of the victim, before pulling out the thermometer. "I've got some bile in the mouth cavity," she said, inserting the thermometer into the body, "some discolouration of the lips and skin. Liver temp is…" she waiting for it to beep, before reading it, "77 degrees, making time of death approximately 14 hours ago."

"That makes it about 10 o'clock last night that he died, presumably still on the door step. Any signs of dual lividity?" Jo asked, stepping forward towards the M.E. Alexx glanced up at the woman, then to Eric. "You must be our newest CSI. Welcome to the Miami-Dade Crime Lab," she said, setting down her instruments and moving to shift the body onto its side. "I'm Dr Alexx Woods, the day shift medical examiner." Jo smiled at the older woman, "Jo Adams, serologist."

Alexx studied the body before settling him back down. "No dual levity, only one set, probably from where he lay down on the stoop, complete with grooves from the decking." Eric glanced from the body back to the dark woman before him.

"Preliminary cause of death Alexx?" The woman shot him a sardonic look. "I am not that good of a pathologist sugar. It could be anything, from stroke to choking on his own vomit. Whatever it was, it didn't agree with you, did it honey?" She lightly touched the victim's forehead, a sad smile gracing her features. Jo stared at the woman, a look of reverence on her face. She was intrigued with the gentle, caring manner at which Alexx treated her 'patients'.

"How long until you finish the autopsy, so we can find out the C.O.D?" Eric queried, pulling both women's attention back to him.

"The sooner you leave me to my work, the sooner you can get on with yours."

Eric smiled gently at her before nodding, "Thank you Alexx. We'll go now." Jo watched Eric walk out of the morgue, shooting off a quick "Bye," Before following. "Goodbye sugar." Alexx replied to the swinging doors.

/>>

"Knock knock." Horatio looked up from the file he was studying to find Calleigh standing in the doorway of his office, holding a file. "Can I come in?" she asked, flashing him a small smile.

"Always Calleigh." He replied sincerely.

Walking into the dark office, lit only by the fluorescent desk lamp, she took in the tired features of her LT. "Am I intruding on some self-inflicted exile or is this a welcome distraction?" she asked, sitting down in a chair opposite him. He leaned back into the chair, sighing in thought. She watched him silently as he tried to wrangle in the myriad of thoughts flying through the air around him.

"You think there's more to this, don't you?" she spoke softly, catching Horatio by surprise. Like she had so many times before, Calleigh Duquesne had charged straight through the seemingly untouchable exterior and read him perfectly. He shook his head, a mental admonition for underestimating her, as he turned his attention back. She kept silent, waiting patiently for him.

"From the beginning of this case, nothing has been what it appeared to be. From the staging of the scene, Ms Lee's gender, the tie between the victims, everything, we've been chasing our tails, trying to get one step ahead." He stopped, his strong gaze narrowing at the stalling of the case. Calleigh smiled wryly at her supervisor.

"You just don't like being beaten Horatio."

He shot a frowning glance to his ballistics expert, not liking the smiling look she was sporting. He cocked his head slightly, absorbing her knowing comment and dropping his gaze. "You hate it when people get the better of you, and this guy, whoever he is, is getting to you. The longer it takes for us to find him, the more perturbed you become. But," she paused dramatically, "what if I could get you ahead of the victim? To the point where, when you eventually hunt him down, I can hand you to hammer so you can nail his guilty ass to the chair?"

Horatio's gaze shot quickly to Calleigh's smiling eyes, as she placed a folder down in front of him. "Alexx found this in post, on the back of Ms Lee's fingers. Try as she might, she couldn't get it off, so she called me, wondering if I could help her identify it. I ran a ferrozine test, and just got the results back. Thought that you would want to hear the good news." She moved to stand next to him, against the desk.

Horatio's eyes scanned over the photos- the fingers on the victim's right hand, palm down, covered in an orange brown stain- then the GC/MS results.

"An iron deposit?" He asked, looking apprehensive. Calleigh nodded, a wide smile on her features.

"It's a extremely rare side effect in gun shot suicides. When the shooter is holding the barrel when it's fired, sometimes it causes the staining of the palm of the hand. However, I think she got it trying to claw the gun out of the hands of the shooter. It would explain how she got the stains to the outside of her hand instead of her palm. By curling her fingers under her assailant's hand," Calleigh paused, picking up Horatio's hand. She moved it to look like he was holding the barrel of an imaginary gun before curling her fingers around his. "She absorbed the iron from the part she was touching, protecting that part of his hand. And the good news for us is that it is impossible to remove. A permanent reminder of their crime." She cocked a playful eyebrow at him, her eyes shining happily.

Horatio smiled back at her, "Good work Cal," he said, squeezing her hand gently before releasing it. Her smile shone brightly at the compliment before she ducked her head.

"Don't thank me. Thank our victim. She's the one who's singled her killer out for us." Calleigh said, moving away, in an effort to get some distance between them before she overheated. He watched her as she gathered the file together, tucking a thick blonde strand behind her ear nervously.

He knew that they both shared a love for the thrill of the chase. They loved the intensity of running the perp down and outsmarting them through their knowledge of their field. Tonight, her unwavering tenacity and enthusiasm had helped him regain his focus, having momentarily lost it, something of a rare occurrence.

"You need to get some rest Horatio." He returned to Calleigh, who was standing on the opposite side of the desk again. "It's late," she continued after a moment, "and you need a good night's sleep if you're going to continue crime-fighting tomorrow."

Her innocent look was belied by her sarcastic grin that was on her lips.

Horatio sighed, not ready to give up. "Calleigh…" He started before he was cut off.

"I'm serious Horatio, we've been working practically non-stop since the early hours of yesterday morning. You need some sleep otherwise you won't be able to keep this up. Go home," she implored him. "I don't care if you don't sleep. Just get out of here and then come back tomorrow morning. There's nothing more we can do tonight anyway so you might as well head home." She stood firm, her hands crossed across her chest, looking every inch the formidable opponent she could be. Horatio was too tired to argue with a resolute Calleigh Duquesne.

"Only if you do something for me."

Calleigh paused, thrown off guard by his acquiescence. "If it gets you to get some rest, then alright." She shifted, causing H to smile at her faltering.

"You get some rest too. Can you do that for me?" He asked, his voice adopting that soft edge that could melt stone if so required. He fixed his crystalline eyes to hers.

She nodded, unable to refuse under his intense gaze.

"Thank you Calleigh." She smiled at him, waving a hand dismissively. "It was nothing. I was going to head home anyway, as soon as I had pried you out of the lab, and sent you on your way home."

"As soon as I finish this report, I will be." He said, tapping the folder on his desk. She narrowed her eyes at him, studying him briefly before nodding. "Alright. But don't think that I won't make sure that you've left. I have my spies Horatio." She said, walking towards the door.

"I'm sure you do Calleigh. I'll see you tomorrow. Get some rest, okay?"

He said, standing to move to the front of the desk, the gentleman in him unable to ignore her exit. "Okay, Boss," she said, throwing the word over her shoulder mischievously. Opening the door, she turned back to face him, a tired smile.

"Sleep tight Horatio."

He returned her smile, cocking his head gently. She waved gently before shutting the door behind her.

"Sleep tight Cal."

/>>

TBC


	3. Chapter Three

"… Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better…" (King Whitney Jr.)

> > > >

Friday morning had dawned overcast, a climate that matched Horatio Caine's mood.

It had been four days since they had been called out to their double homicide. And the last two had stretched into days of painstaking anxiety and irritation, pulling his seemingly endless patience to its limit.

Waiting was not something that came easily to Horatio, so when the DNA lab technicians suddenly became buried up to their eyeballs in yellow envelopes and little red evidence stickers, and pushed his tests to near the end of the queue, he had almost reached his tether.

Granted Horatio had patience, but the natural intensity by which he lived and worked did not allow him the ability to sit around and do nothing whilst waiting for them to process his evidence.

And now, because of this, he found himself on this dark Friday morning, standing in the alley, where the murders had taken place.

Signature shades concealing his troubled blue gaze, he swept the beam of his mag-light along the ground. He was hoping that at some point, a crucial piece of evidence would jump out at him, and they could actually move closer to catching the bastard, who was currently alluding the CSI's.

Knowing that it was pointless, and that his team were far too good to miss something, he sighed, moving his hands to his hips.

Behind him, a short distance away, Calleigh stood, watching her supervisor in his silent contemplation. Again, she had been delegated the task of talking to Horatio.

> > > >

The day before, Valera had come to Calleigh, finding her in the salvation of the ballistics lab. Dark rings under her bloodshot eyes; she had begged her to get Horatio away from the doors of the DNA lab. He had been hovering there almost the entire day, and it was starting to frustrate her.

"Calleigh," Valera had vented, "The Lieutenant has been asking for results on the case every half hour. And when he's not asking, he'll walk by the lab to see if we're getting any closer. I know he's the supervisor, but it's not helping us get our jobs done any quicker when he's constantly looking over our shoulders. We're swamped enough as it is. We even had to get Jo off her case and pull her into the lab to help."

Calleigh sighed. She knew that Horatio was naturally unwavering when in pursuit of criminals and that he expected the same from his team. But also knowing that the anniversary of his brother's death was less than a week away, she was inclined to defend his intensity, more than usual. In all likelihood, Horatio was throwing himself into the case as a form of distraction. Calleigh was brought back to the woman opposite her when Valera called her name.

"Just ask him to give us 12 hours of uninterrupted processing, and then he can have all the results he likes. Please Calleigh? He'll listen to you!" Valera was on the verge of grovelling but didn't care.

Finally Calleigh nodded, unable to refuse the plea. "Fine. But you owe me Valera."

A huge smile lit up the tired features of the technician. "Thank you! Thank you Calleigh!" She impulsively hugged the blonde before leaving the ballistics lab to head back to the now not-so-buried DNA lab.

> > > >

Calleigh smiled at the memory of the slightly horrified and hugely perturbed expressions that Horatio had been wearing on his face when, soon after Valera had left her, she had taken him aside, to the privacy of his office, and politely thrown his own motto back at him. She remembered him sitting opposite her, perched on the edge of his desk and she stood in front of him, orating wildly.

"Trust but verify, Horatio. That's what you've always told us, right?" Calleigh had said, holding the gaze of her tired and confused supervisor. Horatio nodded, crossing his arms across his chest as he leant against his desk. "So leave them alone. Trust Valera, Jo and the others to do their jobs. Trust that they will have the results for you soon. Verify that they are doing everything they can to get through the backlog by wandering past every once in a while, but there is no need to continually check on them."

She stopped at the offended look on his face. "You just need to give them the space and time to do their jobs. Constantly watching their every move isn't going to make the results happen quicker is it?" Calleigh paused, studying his face momentarily to try and gauge his reaction.

Horatio bowed his head softly, sighing out deeply, before looking back to her searching eyes.

"What else do we have," he asked, making his way around his desk to sit in the chair behind it. "Other than the DNA evidence that we can move on?" He sat down with a fatigued sigh. Calleigh stopped, watching him before replying.

"Speed is working through the surveillance tapes, and Tyler is working on tracking down our suspect through Rebecca's computer. But both of those are going to take a while yet. I've also got a warrant for the phone records of both our victims, to see if there is anything helpful there. The surgeon's office is also sending over the psych evaluations that Rebecca had done before her operation. I know they are a year old, but I thought that it wouldn't hurt to double-check the suicide angle."

He nodded, knowing that she had everything covered, and that fact, did little to help.

And now here she stood, a day on, watching him from the street as her troubled friend and supervisor continued his fruitless search of their old crime scene.

> > > >

Details were something Tim Speedle was good at. Compiling victim-ologies, looking for minute trace evidence was his forte; something Speed prided himself on. But today, this Friday morning, he had nothing.

Bupkiss, niente, sweet F.A.

And this was not a good thing.

Horatio had been cagey the last couple of days, desperately wanting a break in the case, as they all did. And poor Calleigh had been appointed the task of reining him in (not that she really seemed to mind all that much, Speed thought quietly) and returning their illustrious leader back into their folds.

Where there was nothing but bad news to greet him so far.

Speed sighed out loudly, throwing his pen across the layout room. He had been sitting here the last god knows how many hours, inching his way through footage from the security cameras from the club. And all they had was a photo of the guy that Rebecca Lee had entered the club with, assumedly their suspect. But that was it and it didn't match anything in any database so far. Speed also doubted that the old saying of 'tall, dark and handsome' wouldn't quite narrow down the parameters of the DMV search.

Groaning in frustration, Tim lowered his head very unceremoniously onto the desk, hearing and feeling it hit with a bang. As he sat there contemplating the nothingness that was the case, a knock on the door interrupted his reverie.

"Hey Speed, you busy?" He heard the voice of Tyler, the Audio/Visual technician call tentatively from the doorway.

Speed sighed, "No, not at all unfortunately. Come on in."

"Hows the case doing?" Footsteps walked into the room, stopping just across from Speed, who still hadn't lifted his head off the tabletop. He sighed, shifting his head.

"Badly. You get anything off of the computer?" He asked Tyler, who was probably, no doubt in Speed's mind, looking at him strangely. He heard him pause and shuffle what sounded like paper.

"Yeah, I traced the emails. The perp always used a different computer. However they are all central to the same location. I traced them all to an Internet café downtown. I got you the address."

Tim pulled his head up to stare in a reverent awe at the man opposite him, eyeing the proffered slip of paper cautiously. This could be the break they were looking for, or it could be another dead-end. Either way, it was something.

He smiled, and took the address. "Tyler, you are a lifesaver man. I owe you one." Speed said, hastily pulling out his cell phone. He stood, stopping to pat Tyler on the back as he walked quickly out of the room.

> > > >

Calleigh stood on the street at the end of the old crime scene, watching Horatio as he took off his shades, and walked slowly down the alley towards the door leading into the club, mag light moving across the ground, scanning for much needed clues. Just as she went to move towards him, her cell phone chirped happily on her belt.

Pulling it off she noted the caller I.D before answering. "Hey Tim, how's it going?" She paused, shifting her body as Speed replied. "Yeah, I found him… You what? That's great, where is it?" Calleigh pulled out a notebook and pen from her kit, jotting down the name of the café that had finally tracked down as the source of the emails. "Thanks Tim, do you want to meet us there, or are you okay if we run with this?" She waited, putting the notebook and pen back in her kit, closing it softly. "Oh, alright. Well, we'll see you back at the lab; I'll call you later. Bye." She shut her phone, clipping it back onto her belt.

She bit her lip softly, she was excited about this new lead, but there was a nervous tension. She really didn't want to get her or Horatio's hopes up in case this turned out to be nothing.

Sighing, and picking up her kit, Calleigh started to walk towards Horatio, her boots clicking lightly on the pavement. It had rained the night before, she noted as she made her way to him.

"Hey handsome, need some help?" she asked as she moved under the yellow tape and approached the doorway in which he stood. His gaze shot up to find her, startled slightly by her sudden appearance.

"Calleigh, what are you doing here?" He asked, his posture softening.

"Playing messenger service." She reached down into her kit to pull out a yellow envelope. "Care of Valera and Co. Our test results from all the samples taken from our victims." He took the proffered envelope carefully, before opening it and reading the results. "The DNA from the fingernails, saliva from the scene and hair follicle from the dress all match the same person. Male, but not our victim's." Calleigh summed up as he read over the printouts. "No match in CODIS, but it does give us something to match to when we get this guy." She finished, her eyes studying his. He looked to her, lifting an eyebrow at her light tone.

"So we've got nothing then?" He asked, glancing around the alley and back into the exit of the club.

"Nothing here Horatio. It's all been washed away in last night's rain. Come on." She said, motioning for him to follow her.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see." She said cryptically.

He nodded, turning off his mag light before bending down and picking up her discarded field kit.

"After you." He motioned for her to lead the way, out of the alley towards the identical Hummers parked on the street. She shot him a bright smile.

"Why thank you." Calleigh turned and started to make her way back to street. Horatio paused, watching her momentarily before following her.

> > > >

Making his way through the corridors of the lab, Eric was searching for his case partner. He had been working almost alone on the case for the last day and a half, after Jo had been roped in to helping in the DNA lab, only periodically able to assist Eric in processing their evidence. Having heard that the technicians were now ahead and Jo had been released, he was having difficulty locating her.

"Hey Eric!"

He turned to spot Valera, who was motioning to him from the less frantic DNA lab. He stopped and headed into the room, glancing around quickly for his elusive colleague.

"Hey Valera, have you seen Jo?" Eric asked as he reached the desk the technician sat at.

"Not since she ducked out about half an hour ago. But when you find her you can give her this." She said, picking up a file.

"What is it?" Eric paused, wondering.

"The blood work on your victim. Jo said she was going to take it to you, but when she walked out, she left it sitting here."

"Okay, thanks Valera." He said, taking the file. "I'd better keep looking. If she comes by here, can you tell her I'm looking for her?" Valera nodded as Eric started towards the door.

"Sure thing Eric. Oh," she said, stopping Eric. "You can also give her these. She left them on the bench."

Valera handed Eric a couple of rolls of Lifesavers, one half eaten. He glanced down incredulously at the candy, before nodding to the technician. "Ah, thanks."

"No problem" she replied, turning back to her work. Eric shook his head in confusion, as he walked out into the corridor.

As he made his way around the corner, he spotted Jo, sitting down in one of the layout rooms, reading over something. She was sitting on one of the stools, her head propped up, resting heavily on her hand. Her arm looked like it was the only thing keeping her upright at the moment. Making his way to the door, he knocked quickly as he entered. "Hey, found you."

He said, stopping opposite her. She pulled up from the file to look at him, a tired and solemn smile fleeting quickly across her face. "Hey Delko. How's the processing been going since I saw you last?" She saw the file he held.

"What's that?" she asked, frowning in confusion.

"The full blood write-up on our victim that you just ran in DNA with Valera, the ones that you left behind?" he stopped at the confused look on Jo's face. "Don't you remember?" She shook her head.

"I'm so sorry Eric. It's just been really busy, trying to get everything done but I know it's no excuse, so never mind. Go on." She said, dropping her head into her hands.

He paused, studying her quickly before continuing. "Ah, our victim's blood contained low levels of hypericum perforatum, with very high levels of the drug tranylcypromine."

He looked back up to see her pull herself up and start paging wildly through the file in front of her. "What are you looking for?"

"What did Dr Woods say the cause of death was?" she asked, looking through the file.

"Alexx said that the official cause of death was a hypertensive crisis, resulting in a stroke." Jo glanced up at him from her reading.

"What? Our victim was a perfectly healthy 38-year-old man, and he dies from high blood pressure? That doesn't make sense…" she trailed off. Eric nodded in agreement. Jo paused, a troubled look on her face, "What did you say was in the tox screen again?"

Eric shot a quick look back at the read-out, "Hypericum perforatum and tranylcypromine."

He glanced back to Jo, who was frowning.

"Tranylcypromine, that's an anti-depressant." She said, glancing up at Eric, who nodded. "But if he was into natural therapies, why would he be taking a synthetic drug like that?" Eric shrugged, moving to sit opposite her. She sighed out slowly before glancing up at the man opposite her. "Does he have a prescription for it?"

"Nothing. This guy apparently hasn't seen a doctor in four years. He prefers his natural remedies to modern medicine." She nodded, glancing back down to the report. "So someone else must have slipped him the drug, someone with a motive to kill."

Eric smiled, "That's why we've got a search warrant for both his apartment and the house that he shared with the ex-girlfriend, Jeanne Romany. Yelina is going to meet us there." He stood up, glancing at his colleague.

"Detective Salas, right?" Jo said, standing up slowly. He nodded.

"Let's go." Eric started to the door, glancing behind him when he didn't hear her follow. He turned to see her standing heavily against the table, rubbing her eyes. "Hey, are you alright?" She pulled up slowly to look up him, her eyes glassy.

"Oh, what? Yeah, I'm fine, just a little tired, that's all." She started walking towards him, dodging his stare. "It's been a hectic first couple of days." She shook her head, and then looked up at him, meeting his eyes. "You ready?"

Eric nodded. He didn't quite believe her, but he chose to stay silent at her defiant gaze. "Oh, Valera wanted me to give these back to you." He said, handing her the Lifesavers.

"Ah, thanks Delko." She said, tucking them into the pocket of her lab coat as they headed out towards the locker room.

> > > >

Calleigh pulled the Hummer to rest next to the sidewalk. After leaving the club, they had made their way downtown, and were now parked across from one or two small cafes. Horatio was confused as to why they were there of all places, but Calleigh had said nothing since they had left, choosing to remain secretive.

She got out and glanced across the street. Horatio watched her as she turned to see him still sitting in the car. "Are you coming Horatio?" she asked, a concealed look on her face. He narrowed his eyes, uncertain, before climbing gracefully out of the Hummer.

They made their way across the road to walk into a small café. Calleigh smiled and made her way to the counter. "Hi, I'll have two coffees thank you. We'll just be over by the window." She said to the waitress before walking over to a table facing the street.

"Calleigh, why are we here?" Horatio said, sitting down opposite her, confused by her secretive behaviour towards their pit stop.

"I needed a coffee Horatio, and you need a break from yourself. So here we are." She said glancing out the window. "Calleigh," he said, sighing.

"What Horatio?" She turned back to him, a challenging look in her eyes. "Are you going to tell me that there is nothing the matter, that you are perfectly alright and there is nothing about the case that is affecting you? Because I know that there is, and you can't tell me otherwise. You can't lie to me Horatio Caine." She said, her voice soft.

Horatio dropped his head. "No I can't, can I?" He looked back to her eyes, which were focussed on him unwaveringly.

Just as he was about to continue, the waitress came over and placed their order down in front of the couple, smiling tersely at them before disappearing. They sat in silence, Calleigh sipping her coffee, Horatio fiddling gently with a sugar packet. She sighed, biting her lip nervously before deciding to break the silence. "Talk to me Horatio."

He glanced up at her quickly before moving his gaze back to his coffee. "About what?"

She smiled briefly, "Anything, or nothing. Just tell me whatever is on your mind."

He paused, not yet able to put anything out into words. Calleigh cocked her head to the side, keeping her eyes on his. "Is it about this case, or about your brother's?"

Horatio dropped his head further, a sad smile on his face, shaking his head gently. Before looking up to Calleigh. "Both really."

She smiled at his ambiguity. "Care to elaborate or are you actually going to make me guess?" He smiled at her comment, before glancing away.

"We're assuming Rebecca Lee was killed because her assailant found out about her reassignment," Cal nodded to Horatio, "and three years on, even after we solved the case, there are still secrets I am keeping about Ray. When are all the lies going to stop Cal?" He pulled up to meet Calleigh's blue eyes with his own. She held his gaze, before moving her gaze down to her hands, which were clasped around her coffee. She smiled ruefully.

"I wish I had an answer for that Horatio, I really do, but unfortunately there is no end. I understand where you are coming from. Trust me. With all the lies my father has told me over the years about his work and Mom and his life, it's a wonder I still believe him." She finished, glancing up quickly at her companion before moving her eyes back to stare at the coffee in front of her. Horatio smiled softly at her,

"You have hope Calleigh." He said, the gentle look on his face matching his voice.

"Yeah, that would be it," she replied, pulling up to capture his eyes. "And strangely enough Horatio, it's the same thing that keeps us doing this job day after day, one soulless bastard after the next. And it's also the one thing we can never afford to lose, otherwise they win." She ended, holding his gaze with a determined one of her own. He smiled, one of the first true smiles that had graced his features in days. All thanks to the woman across from him.

They sat in silence, each contemplating into their coffees. "You're right Cal," Horatio said, breaking the easy silence.

She looked up at him, her eyes smiling. "Have you ever known me to be wrong Horatio?" Calleigh replied, smiling quickly at him. Horatio shook in head in reply, smiling softly as he glanced down to his coffee.

"So, now that I have been honest, it's your turn." Calleigh glanced up in surprise at his comment.

"What?" she asked, worry and shock clouding her voice.

"Are you going to tell me the real reason behind bringing me to this particular café, or are you going to make me guess now too?" He finished, cocking a playful eyebrow at his companion. She grinned, taking a sip of her drink.

"Despite what you may think, I did bring you here to talk. But, there is an ulterior motive," she paused to point out the window. "Do you see that internet café over there?" Horatio nodded, watching both it and Calleigh closely. "Tyler traced the emails that our mystery man sent to Rebecca to that café."

Calleigh looked back to Horatio, not overly surprised to see him half out of his chair, throwing money onto the table and moving off. She hurried after him, calling out his name insistently as Horatio quickly and decisively made his way across the road towards the café, stopping only when a car would almost knock him down.

Calleigh paused, making her way through the traffic to catch him on the sidewalk. "Horatio, wait!" She grabbed his arm to halt his movement. He whirled around to face her, confused by her interruption.

"What?" He frowned, shaking his head. Calleigh sighed,

"Wait here." She walked over to the Hummer, unlocking it to reach inside and pull out the photo of their suspect, acquired this morning from Speed, taken from the surveillance tape. Calleigh handed it to Horatio. "They can't make an identification from thin air handsome." She said, before gesturing him to continue towards the café. He shot a grateful smile at her before they made their way to the entrance.

> > > >

Eric navigated the Hummer through the streets of Miami suburbia, slowly to stop at the traffic lights. He and Jo were currently on their way over to the house that their victim Mr Johannsen had been previously shared with his ex-girlfriend. Jeanne Romany.

They had already searched the dead man's apartment, his place of residence before the county morgue had welcomed him.

During the two hours between leaving the lab and now, Eric had noticed a change in his partner, and not for the better. Jo's apparent exhaustion had worsened, causing her to lean against the window, her eyes closed like she was sleeping. She also appeared to be shivering, which was strange because her forehead and neck were glistening with sweat.

Eric frowned as he pulled his gaze back to the road, pressing the accelerator again when the lights turned green. "Jo," he said after a moment's silence. He had decided to try and keep her awake, since they were about to arrive at the house.

"Hmmm, what Delko?" she said, shifting in her seat.

"Do you have any siblings?"

She cracked one eye open to shoot a confused frown at him. "What?"

"Do you have any siblings? Any brothers or sisters?" He asked, glancing quickly at her. "I'm trying to make conversation!"

Jo shifted again before pulling her eyes open and rubbing them gently. She kept silent, her eyes staring unseen at the road in front of them. "No, I don't. I'm an only child. Not for the lack of trying." She said into the silence, not looking at the man next to her. Eric nodded. "You?" she asked politely.

"Three older sisters." She nodded, a small smile on her face.

"No wonder you play well with others." She said, a teasing tone to her voice. He laughed gently before glancing quickly at her again.

Before he got a chance to speak again, Jo's mobile went off, beeping quickly before going silent again. She picked up her handbag from the floor between her feet, rifling through it before frowning in confusion.

"Lost something?" He asked, turning the Hummer left around a corner.

"No, it's nothing." He frowned, shooting her an unsure look.

"You sure?" She nodded, smiling quickly at him.

"Nothing that can't wait til we get back to the lab." He sighed, not quite believing her but deciding to let it go.

"Here we are," he said, spotting the police car and accompanying unmarked detective's car. He pulled the Hummer in to the drive of the house, stopping it just onto the property. He spotted the uniformed officer guarding the door, and nodded at him as he and Jo alighted from the car and gathered their gear.

Walking inside, he noticed the neat but sparsely furnished living room, where Detective Salas sat currently, talking to their suspect, Ms Romany. She was an older woman, with sandy blonde hair and strikingly pale features. She looked almost albino next to Yelina. Buried in an oversized jumper and shorts, Jeanne Romany was curled into a corner of her lounge chair, nursing a coffee mug.

They stopped at the hall, glancing down it before turning back to the two women in the living. "Detective," Eric said, alerting them to the presence of the two CSI's in the house.

"Delko," Yelina replied before turning back to the civilian. "Ms Romany, this is CSI's Eric Delko and Jo Adams. They would just like to have a look around to see whether there is anything here that would help us in our investigation."

Jeanne nodded softly, a cool air around her. "Alright, but I don't see how this could help. Seton took a majority of his things when he left me." She said, shifting her legs from under her to place them on the ground.

"Well anything that you still have of his would be really useful for us, thank you." Jo said, casually from the entrance to the hall.

"Sure, there's a box of his things in the backroom. Just down the hall and to your left. Feel free to look around. I don't have anything to hide." Jo smiled tersely at the older woman.

"We'll see." She replied before walking off down the hall.

Eric nodded politely at Jeanne, "We'll leave you an inventory of anything we take. Thank you for your time." He smiled again, before turning and making his way down the hall to where his partner was calming working her way around the room.

> > > >

"Do you recognise this man?"

The waitress took the picture that Calleigh held out to her and studied it quietly. She shifted, her teeth catching her bottom lip between them. Calleigh shot an agonised, impatient look at Horatio, who smiled softly at her. He too, was on edge, as to whether they could finally get an identification of their best suspect.

After an excruciating silence, the young woman nodded. "Yeah, I know him. He was just in here yesterday."

Horatio glanced at his partner, sending her a distressed look. "Why?" The waitress continued.

Horatio took off his shades, shifting his body softly before moving his azure gaze to the woman across from him. "Listen, we need his name. We want to talk to this man in relation to a double homicide. Our lab has traced emails that he sent to one of victims to this café."

The waitress, whose nametag showed her name as Jasmine, baulked softly, gasping. "Oh my god. Ah, sure, I ah, think his name was Scott. Scott something." She paused, her eyes flitting about the counter. "Just give me a minute, I can find his receipt from yesterday. He paid with his credit card, so it should have his name on it." She bent down to pull a handful of receipts out of a draw in the counter. Dumping them on the counter, she started to rifle through them.

"About what time did he come in yesterday?" Calleigh asked, stepping towards the woman to help her go through the papers.

"Just before my lunch break. I remember because I was dying to use the bathroom," she looked up to shoot an embarrassed glance at the CSI's, "so it should have been about 12:30pm." Horatio nodded, shifting again to glance around the café.

"Jasmine, what computer did he use?"

She glanced up quickly, scanning the room with her eyes. "The one in the far corner, away from the windows."

Horatio caught the quick eyebrow that Calleigh cocked at him, before returning his gaze back to the waitress. "Do you mind if I have a look at it?"

Jasmine looked up anxiously at the criminalists. "I may have to ask the manager." She said, dubiously.

"Then why don't you do that for us?" Horatio asked, cocking his head to the side and smiling softly.

"Sure," she replied. "And here's his receipt." She handed it to Calleigh, who stood back from the counter and moved to show Horatio. Jasmine moved away towards the offices behind the counter.

Horatio sighed, and turned in to Calleigh. "You've got an idea don't you handsome?" She asked, her eyes flitting over the receipt. Horatio moved his gaze to the street.

"If we can get a warrant for the computer he used last, then we can get hopefully get fingerprints from the keyboard."

"And then run them through AFIS to see if he's got any priors." Calleigh nodded, finishing Horatio's thought.

"Or a registered weapon." He finished. They both stood in thought for a moment before Jasmine returned, an older man in tow.

"Lieutenant Caine, this is Mr McPhee, the manager. He wanted to talk to you about the keyboard."

Horatio turned to greet the man, who was looking formidable. "Lieutenant Caine, my waitress informs me that you want to examine one of our computers." He started, remaining behind the counter, to distance himself from Horatio's presence.

"Actually Mr McPhee," Horatio said, "I want to take the keyboard of a specific computer back to the Crime Lab for processing." He centred his eyes on the face of the man opposite him, staring him out.

"I don't think that is such a good idea Lieutenant. I have a profitable business here, and I need every single computer working." Calleigh watched as Horatio shifted in impatience.

"I don't think it's such a good idea if word gets out that your 'profitable establishment' didn't co-operate with the Police in the investigation of a double homicide, do you?" He blinked, his eyes narrowing at the manager. Mr McPhee shifted, uncomfortable with under the examination of the CSI supervisor.

"I'm sure that one computer out of order wouldn't make a huge difference, would it sir?" Calleigh asked, her gaze flicking from Horatio to the businessman.

After a moment's deliberation, Mr McPhee shook his head. "I suppose not. Just do whatever you need to do, it's no problem." He nodded dismissively at the detective's before walking back into his office.

Horatio turned back to Calleigh, sighing. "Well, we've got a positive identification, and an address." He started,

"And possible fingerprints. This is a good sign, handsome." She said smiling.

H looked down at Calleigh, nodding softly, a slight smile reciprocating her own. "Why don't you call Speed, and have him go with you to the house?"

Calleigh frowned, "Aren't you going to come take a look as well?" She asked, confused. Given his veracity during the week over finding the man, she was amazed that now they had a clue he would not want to lead the hunt. Horatio shook his head.

"I want to be able to pin both murders on this guy. I'm going to talk to Alexx, see if there is anything more she can tell us about the autopsies."

Calleigh nodded. "Alright. I'll drop you back at your Hummer, then we'll travel back to the lab together." Horatio smiled.

"Let's gather our evidence. And then get going." Calleigh smiled, heading over towards the door.

Neither of them had brought their field kits into the store, so Calleigh headed back out to the Hummer to grab her kit, anxious to get on with the job, an excitement building after two days of doing nothing, into something that could pay off for them. 'It needed to,' she thought, 'especially for Horatio.'

> > > >

Interviewing Jeanne Romany and searching her house had taken longer than Eric, and especially Joselyn had expected. The woman had had nothing much more to add other than conforming the things that her best friends, the McKennas, had informed them of earlier in the week.

Jo and Eric had conducted a minor search of the place, going through the box of the dead man's things his ex-girlfriend had so lovingly discarded. Inside it, there was nothing much to go on, other than a few shared phone bills, some clothing, a few bottles of herbal supplements and personal letters. All of these things were found in duplicate at the man's house. Missing though, were any prescriptions or medical bills, proving Eric and Jo's theory of an outside party. But that was as far as they had gotten.

But the lack of evidence was not what was worrying Eric Delko. He had been keeping a watchful eye on his partner through out their day, and now, she was showing more and more signs of physical distress. During the hour or so that she and Delko had been at the house, she had grown paler and paler, her face and neck were shining brightly with sweat, something she had angrily dismissed as 'acclimatisation'. Jo also looked like she was having trouble breathing, gasping at times.

He watched her now, as they started to pack away all the evidence into their kits and Detective Salas was winding down her interview with Ms Romany. Eric saw Jo shake her head softly, scrubbing a hand over her face before taking a deep breath. He reached over to take her arm gently. "Hey Jo, are you sure you are okay?"

She looked up at him, a confused expression on her face. "What are you talking about, of course I am. Why?" she replied, her brows furrowing slightly.

"Well, you just don't look 100 that's all."

"Gee, thanks Delko." She said darkly, turning back to her work.

"I didn't mean it like that…" He started, shaking his head.

"Well what did you mean?" she snapped quickly, turning her fiery brown gaze at him.

Eric paused, studying her quickly. "Nothing. I meant nothing. Just forget it okay?" he said shortly.

She turned away from him, continuing to pack up her kit in silence. Eric snapped his kit closed, throwing a quick glance down the hall to see Yelina standing up. "You ready to go?" He asked Jo, who was closing up her kit.

She nodded as she stood up quickly. But before he could say anything she sat back down again, her legs seemingly giving away beneath her, her case dropping loudly to the ground next to her.

"Jo?" Eric said quickly, bending down next to her on the floor. "Jo?" he asked again when he didn't get a reply. He placed a hand on her arm, dragging her eyes from their study of her hands to his troubled gaze.

"What?" she asked innocently, as if not understanding what had happened.

"What is going on?" Eric asked, leaning over and righting her field kit and grabbing her hands.

"Nothing," she replied, pulling her cold, sweaty hands out of his quickly before pulling herself up. He followed her up, still holding her arm as she swayed precariously. They stood up, Eric glancing down the hall quickly to see Yelina watching him. He looked back to Jo, who was rubbing her eyes again. "I don't know," she said, looking up at him.

"Come on, let's get back to the lab, alright?" Eric said, moving her towards the hallway and the salvation of the front door. She nodded, before, moving off.

"Oh, my field kit," she murmured softly over her shoulder to him.

"I got it Jo," Eric replied picking up her field kit. Again, Eric watched her, walk trembling and stumbling down the hall, her own legs making the journey harder for her. Jo stopped at the front door, propping herself up on the wall, stumbling when she misjudged the distance.

He followed her out, stopping at the lounge where Yelina was concluding with the interview. "If you need anything or remember anything else, this is my card. You can contact me on these numbers." The women stopped as Eric walked up to stand just behind the detective.

He nodded to Jeanne, who was eyeing the CSI at the door with suspicion. "Is she alright?" she asked the two people in front of her. Yelina glanced over to Jo before turning her gaze questioningly to Eric. He nodded quickly.

"She's fine Ms Romany. Thank you for all your help today. Goodbye." He nodded again at her before moving to the front door, pulling it open and escorting his partner outside. Yelina shook her head before following.

Jo walked slowly down the front path towards the verge as Eric and Yelina followed her towards the police issue car and Hummer parked there. "Are you sure she's okay?" Yelina asked Eric quietly as they neared their vehicles.

"She said she's just a little dehydrated and hungry that's all." He replied, frowning.

"But you are not so sure?" she asked, keeping her gaze on him. He shook his head after a moment.

"No, I think that there is more to it than that." They stopped walking, Eric keeping his gaze on his new colleague who was now standing against the Hummer.

"Like what?" the detective asked, her gaze flitting between the two CSI's.

Eric sighed. "I don't know." He turned his gaze to Yelina.

She raised her eyebrows at him, disbelieving. "If I didn't know better, I would say that she was drunk."

Eric shook his head quickly, "No, that's not it."

"As I said," Yelina replied, "If I didn't know better." Eric smiled tersely at the woman in front of him.

"See you Yelina."

"Bye Delko."

They both walked back to their respective cars, Eric keeping an eye firmly fixed on the woman with him, worried that any minute she'd drop. 'She'll be fine,' he thought to himself as he moved to open the trunk of the Hummer, depositing their field kits inside.

He watched her struggle to climb into the passenger seat. 'Let's hope so, and let's hope that Horatio doesn't see her like this when we get back to the lab.' He thought anxiously as he slammed the door shut.

> > > >

Speed pulled the Hummer to a stop on the street, glancing at their destination before shooting a disbelieving look at the woman next to him. "This is the address the waitress gave you?" Speed asked, unsure. Calleigh nodded, glancing behind them to see a mandatory police cruiser pull in behind them.

They were parked in front of a run-down, dilapidated weatherboard house, with a front garden wasn't so much a garden, than overgrown weeds.

"Yeah, this was the address listed on the credit card receipt." She said, undoing her seatbelt and getting out of the car.

"You think if he could afford a credit card, he could at least afford a gardener." Speed replied as he stepped out of the Hummer and moved to step in next to Calleigh at the worn letterbox at the front of the property.

"Or a better house." She continued, cocking an amused eyebrow at her friend. He nodded as the uniformed policeman walked up to the building and knocked hesitantly on the front door, as if half expecting it to fall in with the pressure.

"Mr Hamill, open up, it's the Miami-Dade PD." The man called at the wooden barrier. His voice was greeted with silence, as he waited for signs of life inside the house. He knocked again, glancing quickly back to the CSI's. He shook his head before calling out again. "Mr Hamill, this is the Police, please open your door!"

Again, there was no reply. He looked around quickly before walking back to Calleigh and Speed. "There are no signs of life in there guys. There was no answer and I couldn't hear anything moving around inside." He said, looking back to the house.

"Except maybe the rats," Speed murmured at Calleigh. She smiled before moving her sunglasses to her hair.

"Maybe," She replied, before glancing up and down the street. "Why don't we go and speak to the neighbours? See if we can get an idea of our guy, Scott Hamill."

Speed sighed; playing nice just wasn't his thing some times. "Alright, but then we've got to head back and see if we have enough to get a warrant to search the house." They started to move off to the house left of the run down residence. "With any luck, he'll be inside dead." Speed commented as they moved across the path to the fence.

Calleigh shot a dark look at Speed. "We're not even sure that he killed them yet. How can you just say that?" She said, crossing her arms across her chest angrily.

"Oh come on Calleigh, who else could have done it? It wouldn't be the first time someone has disappeared off the face of the Earth after killing someone. Maybe he was ashamed." Speed said, shrugging quickly.

Calleigh stopped walking. "Of what Tim?" She said accusingly, her blue/green eyes narrowing slightly.

"We are all assuming that this guy killed Rebecca Lee because of who she used to be. Maybe he was angry at the idea of being tricked into dating someone who used to be a guy. Maybe he was worried that his buddies would find out and he'd be shunned or something. I don't know Cal, I was just saying. We all have a theory about why he did it, why not state the obvious one?" Speed replied, shaking his head softly. He glanced away, choosing to study the front door of the house they were about to approach.

Calleigh dropped her head, sighing. "You're right. This could be a hate crime. But we don't know that for certain. Innocent until proven guilty Tim, isn't that what they teach us on day one of the academy?" She replied, looking up at him, a small smile on her face.

"Must have skipped that day," he replied, before moving off up the front path of the well trimmed and quaintly decorated garden that framed the neat cottage house.

"I would have too, but I was too excited by the shooting ranges to have missed it." She said, following him up the path, the uniform following in tow.

As the elderly neighbour greeted them, all three missed the flicker of light appear suddenly from under the decrepit house, a soft glow of a torch shining against the dark shadows it came from.

> > > >

As Eric turned the Hummer into the CSI parking garage, he glanced over at his passenger, who was slumped against the window. Jo had been quiet the whole way back to the lab and if Eric was right, had turned another shade of white. Her breathing was more and more laboured, and any time that Eric had tried to talk to her, her replies were slurred and angry.

Eric was beginning to entertain Yelina's idea of inebriety as he pulled the vehicle into a parking space. Turning off the engine, he leaned over and gently grasped the arm of his companion. "Hey Jo," he said softly, "wake up, we are back at CSI."

She turned to face him, her skin a sickeningly white and her bloodshot eyes heavy. "Thanks Taxi-man," she replied, touching his hand gently. She undid her seatbelt and leant forward to retrieve her bag from the floor. Eric eyed her quickly before undoing his own seatbelt and getting out of the Hummer.

He moved to the trunk to gather all their evidence to take inside to the locker, when he heard the passenger door open and then a small thump. He frowned and shut the door before walking around the car to see Jo sitting on the ground, slumped against the car, her bag next to her. She still had one arm on the handle of the door; the other was sitting in her lap.

"Jo!" Eric said, moving back to kneel next to her.

"Yeah," she replied quietly, her eyes closed.

"Are you alright? What happened?" He asked, sweeping his gaze over her, trying to spot any obvious injuries.

"Ah, it's nothing really. Just lost my footing. These Hummers aren't all that easy to get in and out of, you know." Her words were practically falling over one another in an attempt to be spoken.

He smiled softly before extending a hand out to her. "Need a hand getting up?"

She nodded, struggling to keep herself upright. "Why thank you, kind sir." Jo replied as Eric stood up and grasped her hand, hauling her unsteadily to her feet. "Whoa!" she said softly, throwing her arm out in balance.

Eric bent down and picked up her bag, handing it to her.

"What?" he asked, placing his hand around her to support her, just in case her legs gave way again.

"The world spins a little more quickly up here." She commented as they slowly made their way towards the elevators.

Jo had her arm thrown around Eric's shoulders, as he walked and she stumbled their way through the garage.

About 100 metres from the elevators, Eric noticed Jo getting heavier and heavier against his side. He could hear her breathing getting softer and softer, and she stumbled more frequently. Eric also noticed that she was rambling softly under her breath. She sighed out deeply, drawing Eric's attention back to her. "Can we stop for a minute, I just need to catch my breath."

Her gaze was fixed wholly on the ground, a confused and frustrated look on her face. "Sure," Eric replied, using his free arm to try and manoeuvre her to the ground. As he glanced at her, he noticed her eyes flutter as she slumped out unconscious against his side.

"JO!" he said, laying her down gently before touching her face. "Jo, can you hear me?" Eric felt her neck gently, feeling her pulse race loudly underneath his fingertips.

He pulled out his cell phone quickly, "H? It's Eric, I need you to grab Alexx and meet me at the garage elevators. Now!" He snapped his phone shut before bending down to pick up Jo, placing her handbag in her lap, and start his way across to the shining silver doors.

Agonising seconds later, Eric saw the doors open as he crossed the last couple of feet to greet Horatio and Alexx as they stepped out. They paused momentarily at the sight of Eric coming towards them, carrying their newest CSI in his arms. "Eric, what happened?" Horatio asked as he ran quickly to Eric, helping him lower Jo to the ground.

They both stepped back as Alexx met them, first aid kit in hand. "She just collapsed. She's been off all day though. Ever since we left the lab this morning."

Alexx quickly checked her pulse and her eyes, glancing quickly at the men. "Eric, what were her symptoms?"

Eric shook his head quickly, trying to gather his thoughts. "Ah, dizziness, sweating, confusion, ah she was snappy, it was like she was drunk, she couldn't walk properly and she was slurring her words. She said she hasn't eaten."

The doctor nodded, quickly doing a mental checklist, her mind calling on old training for the living. "Horatio, support her head." Alexx said, "We've got to roll her."

H moved quickly to Jo, and together he and Alexx quickly rolled her over into the recovery position.

Eric looked at Horatio then back to the women on the ground. "Eric, find her purse and go through it," Alexx said, feeling Joselyn's wrists and checking the inside of her shirt collar.

"What?" He asked, picking up her handbag.

"Check for a medical card inside her wallet, now." Eric started searching as Horatio stood up, watching Alexx as she studied Jo's hands and then stomach.

"What's going on Alexx?" Horatio asked, his hands moving to his hips as he watched the scene before him.

Suddenly Jo started to convulse beneath the woman, her body shaking and writhing on the ground. Horatio knelt back down quickly, helping Alexx to hold Jo gently as she bucked underneath them. Eric was staring at them, his eyes wide with shock.

He shook his head, ducking it away from the scene in front of him. He pulled another card from Jo's wallet, reading it quickly. "Found it. It says that she's diabetic. Alexx?"

As she went to reply, Calleigh and Speed pulled up near them in their Hummer. "Hey guys, we saw you from the entrance. What's going on?" Calleigh asked as they quickly exited their vehicle and ran over.

"We need to get her to a hospital. Now," Alexx said, holding the still shaking woman. "She's in the late stages of hypoglycaemia, and needs a glucagon injection. We don't have that in the first aid kit. If she doesn't get it soon, she'll fall into a coma."

Speed nodded and handed Horatio the keys. Eric moved back to Alexx. "I'm coming with you."

Speed and Horatio moved to help Alexx pick up Joselyn, whose fit had seemingly stopped. "Calleigh, I need you to get my evidence out of the Hummer. It's parked over there."

Eric gestured wildly to the direction of the said vehicle and threw Calleigh the keys, then followed the others to Speed and Calleigh's vehicle, "What? You left your evidence just sitting in the car?" Speed said quickly, helping put Jo's legs into the car.

"Well, what was I suppose to do? Carry both her and the evidence?" Eric snapped back.

"You did the right thing Eric," Horatio said, moving around to the driver's side door. Alexx climbed into the back seat behind Jo.

"Calleigh," Alexx called out. "I need you to go through her bag or locker and find out what kind of insulin she uses. Ring me when you know."

The side door slammed shut in front of her as Eric and Horatio climbed hastily in and pulled back out of the garage, leaving a stunned Calleigh and Speed in their wake. As they watched the taillights fade out of view, Speed shot a quick look at Calleigh.

"What was that all about?" he asked, glancing around the garage to try and find the other Hummer.

"I don't know," Calleigh said, as they made their way towards Eric's abandoned vehicle. "But it's not going to be good."

TBC


	4. Chapter Four

"… The world is governed more by appearances than realities, so that it is fully as necessary to seem to know something as to know it…" (Daniel Webster)

> > > >

"God, talk about a shock!" Speed said as he and Cal were standing in the break room.

Calleigh was leaning against the counter, nursing a coffee, whilst Speed had made himself comfortable on one of the chairs, holding a mug of caffeine.

It had been an hour since the saga in the parking garage, and the others still hadn't returned from being at the hospital with Jo. Alexx had called them not long ago, and had updated them on her condition, and now; she was supposedly on her way back to the lab to collect a few things for their newest, and now hospitalised CSI.

"Probably more so for Eric than any of us." Calleigh replied, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Imagine though, someone just dropping on you," Speed said, glancing at Calleigh.

"Yeah," she agreed, "And it's like it came out of nowhere. She just collapsed apparently."

As Speed went to reply, Calleigh caught a familiar face out of the corner of her eye, walk past the window. "Eric's back," she said, prompting Speed to turn around to try and spot their friend.

"Hey Delko!" Speed called out through the room, trying to catch the young man's attention.

Eric didn't even look up at the sound of his friend's voice, he just kept on walking quickly, and if they weren't wrong, angrily through the corridor. Calleigh sighed as Eric made his way out of their sight. "He looks pissed," Speed commented, turning back to Calleigh and taking a sip of his coffee.

"Wouldn't you be though, given what happened?" She replied, frowning softly in thought. Speed mumbled an agreeing reply around the corners of his mug, nodding. "I'll go talk to him." Calleigh said after a moment's silence.

"You sure you want do that? Maybe we should just leave him alone for a while, let him work out the anger in his own way." Speed replied, looking hesitantly at the woman across from him.

"Whenever have you known me to leave things alone Timothy Speedle?" Cal replied nonchalantly, shooting Tim an amused eyebrow as she made her way towards the door.

"Yeah, right, this is you we're talking about here." He muttered sardonically into his coffee as Calleigh walked out, in search of their troubled teammate.

> > > >

Calleigh followed the trail of lab-techs to find Eric standing in the evidence vault, angrily banging around boxes and bags. She stopped at the entrance, clearing her throat as a means of alerting him to company. When he didn't turn around, she walked over to stand next to him at the desk.

"Is ignoring your friends a new habit you've picked up now?" she asked casually, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Save it Calleigh, I'm not in the mood to talk." He replied curtly, emptying the evidence box onto the layout table.

"Pity, because I am," she replied, fixing her gaze on him. Eric sighed, refusing to rise to her challenge. Biting her bottom lip, she decided to change tactics to try and get Eric to open up. "How is she?" she asked, dropping her head to the side to try and catch his eyes.

"Fine." He replied, still not looking at her. "All she needed was a shot, and then she'll be back at work on Monday, like nothing ever happened."

Calleigh frowned, "That's it?"

"Yeah, that's it." Eric replied, his dark eyes finally meeting hers, a cold expression on his face. He stared at her minute before moving his eyes back to his evidence, sorting it roughly. Calleigh sighed. This was not going to be as easy as she thought.

"Eric," she said, trying to catch his attention again.

He snapped at her, "What?" throwing an angry glance at the blonde next to him. Calleigh paused, a hurt and incensed expression taking up stance on her face. She breathed deeply, moving her hands to her hips, squaring off for another confrontation.

"Hey, you know, why don't you just take a break for a minute before your anger and frustration destroys all your evidence and you don't have a case anymore?" Calleigh retorted, her challenging tone causing Eric to pause, dropping his head to his chest.

He sighed deeply, bracing his hands against the desk, shifting his weight back. Calleigh softening; the emotions were clearly visible on Eric's features. An angry but defeated tension was flying around the younger man as he struggled to rein his emotions together.

Calleigh waited in silence, just watching Eric quietly. After a moment, he pulled up, softly exhaling before running his hands across his face. "Why didn't she say anything Cal?" He said, looking up at her, his dark eyes a cool of confusion and questioning.

Calleigh shifted, her brows furrowing in confusion. "What do you mean?" she asked softly.

Eric shook his head, "I worked with her all week. And not once did she say anything, nothing, not a word, not even just before she collapsed. She must have known what was happening to her, right?" He said, glancing down again. Calleigh sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "So, why didn't she tell me? I mean, all it would have taken was one sentence, two words even, and none of this would have happened, you know?" He trailed off, leaving the question open to the room.

"So, who are you angrier at Eric?" Calleigh asked, stepping closer into Eric. "Jo, or yourself?"

Eric pulled up to face Calleigh, surprised at the accuracy of her question. He studied her for a moment before sighing and dropping his head again. "I should have noticed Calleigh, I should have done something." He said, shaking his head.

"Done what, Eric? You didn't know about it at the time. How could have done something if you didn't know what was wrong in the first place? How, through ESP?" Calleigh said pointedly, moving to place her hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him.

"But I did know!" Eric said angrily, jerking away from Calleigh and walking a few steps away from her. "I knew something was wrong. She had been off all day, and I ignored it. I ignored the signs and now she's in the hospital." He stopped, running a frustrated hand through his hair. He sighed, deeply, before looking off to a distant spot on the wall, lost in thought.

"What are you talking about Eric? What signs?" Calleigh asked, stepping towards him.

"She hadn't been well all day, exhausted, feverish, all that. And when we were on our way to search the ex-girlfriend's house," Eric began quietly, his voice barely above a whisper, "her cell went off in her bag, obviously to remind her to take her insulin or whatever. When I asked her about it, she said it was nothing, that it could wait until we got back to the lab. I dismissed it at the time, but I should have gone back. I should have gone back," he trailed off, an agonised look of guilt framing his face.

Calleigh looked sadly at him as he continued to beat himself up, not knowing how to get through to him. "Don't keep blaming yourself Eric, there was nothing you could have done." She stopped as Eric opened his mouth to protest. She walked over to him, right into his personal space.

"No, Eric, stop, listen to me," she continued, grabbing his arm and pulling him to face her. She looked him in the eyes, "There was nothing that you could have done. Regardless of whether or not you knew something was wrong."

She spoke slowly but firmly, holding his gaze. "Jo didn't tell anyone about her illness, not you, not me, not any one else. It was her choice not to, not yours. You couldn't have stopped this." Calleigh finished, watching the words slowly sink into his consciousness of the man in front of her. She slowly softened his stare, conceding her truth.

"But I still feel guilty Calleigh. Nothing can change that." She smiled softly.

"You can't help that you are such a compassionate person Eric, but there is nobody to blame for this happening, especially not you. What's done is done. We know now and Jo is going to be fine. Although your evidence may not be." He smiled at her gentle stab at his previous behaviour. Calleigh joined in the smile, tilting her head softly at him.

"Come on, everything will work itself out. All it needs is a little time. In the meantime, you can finish logging in your evidence, once you've apologised to it," he laughed at her stern demeanour, "and then you can go home and get some sleep. It's late, come back tomorrow and start over. Okay?" she said, touching his arm gently.

"Yes Mom!" he joked, smiling and pulling Calleigh into a hug. "Thank you," he said as they pulled away moments later.

"No problem, but if you ever snap at me like that again, I will not hesitate to take you out, do you understand me?"

He nodded, "Perfectly." he smiled gently at her reprimand.

"Good." She replied as they turned back and made their way to the desk to start sorting out Eric's abandoned and abused evidence.

> > > >

The dim fluorescent lamp over Jo's gurney flickered every five minutes and 17 seconds. Horatio knew this as he had now been sitting here, next to her for the last three hours and 43 minutes.

Lying there, Jo was still asleep, having been out of it since collapsing in the parking garage at CSI. He glanced at his wristwatch; it was nearly 7pm. He sighed and rubbing a hand over his eyes, and then leaned back in the chair.

Horatio's gaze fell on the face on the face of the young criminalist in front of him. She looked younger and more at peace asleep. As did everyone, he mused quietly. Ever since her arrival in the emergency room, Horatio was still decided how to broach the subject of her.

He was torn. He knew that he would have to reprimand her about how dangerous and unfair it had been for her to conceal her illness, but he also understood her want for privacy. Either way it was still a hard decision.

Horatio sighed and dropped his head, exhausted. Suddenly, a noise bought his attention up.

Jo murmured, her eyes flittered and her head dropped away from Horatio's side of her bed. He leaned forward, watching her gently. Her eyes slowly pulled opened and she sighed out, blinking against the light slowly. Horatio kept quiet, not wanting to draw her attention before she was fully awake. He watched her as she steadily became more cognisant of her surroundings. Jo frowned softly, momentarily confused before slowly drawing her head around to find her new supervisor staring softly at her.

She blinked, her face not revealing any reaction to his strange presence there. She cleared her throat and glanced around. "What time is it?" she asked, her voice tired and strained.

"Almost 7pm." She closed her eyes and a hand came up to sweep lazily across her face. He dropped his head to the side, watching her in her silence.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at home, doing something?" Her flat accent was accentuated with the last remnants of unconsciousness still assaulting it.

He studied her expression, trying to figure out whether she was sincere or just plain ungrateful. "I know what it's like to wake up in hospital alone. It's not a great feeling." He said, sadly. His eyes flickered to hers, which were watching his blue gaze with a seriousness that threw him.

" No, it's not." She replied, a dark sadness clouding her eyes momentarily before she moved her gaze to the ceiling. Horatio leant back into the chair behind him, watching her. "This was not how I wanted you guys to find out." She said, her words breaking the silence. Jo glanced at her supervisor, an earnest expression on her face.

"You were planning on telling us?" he asked, raising his eyebrows in question. A wry smile pulled at her lips as she looked back to the ceiling.

"Fair question, Lieutenant." She said, cocking her eyebrow, a small laugh masquerading as a sigh escaping her. "Very fair question," she murmured, her teeth coming to trap her bottom lip in them, as she thought about how to continue. "I'm not a very confident person Lieutenant, that much is obvious, especially after this. I'm also not a very optimistic person either. Any job I go into, I arrive with the full expectation that I am not going to last out the week. So I didn't want to say anything until I knew that my position here was a little more concrete. Do you understand?" She finished, turning to Horatio, her brown eyes imploring him to agree.

He dropped his head, weighing her revelations. "But some actions," he started, "No matter how innocent or safe the intention," he pulled up to look Jo in the eyes, "have a negative impact on those around them." He paused, studying her to see whether she got the subtle reproach.

Jo took a moment to review Horatio, an expression of shame and remorse edging her eyes. "I'm sorry Horatio." She said softly, her fingers playing idly with the edge of the blanket that had her pinned to the bed.

"It's not me that you owe the apology to," Horatio said, tilting his head to the side to consider her. "Is it?"

Jo smiled softly, a guilty, sorrowful smile. "Delko," she said quietly, sighing. He watched her as she glanced up at him. He stopped, pausing a moment before clasping his hands together in front of him, balancing his elbows on his knees.

"What you did, both to yourself and Eric was harmful. Not only personally, but professionally. You said that you didn't say anything for fear of your job, but you need to consider the effect of this on us, your co-workers. Our impression of you, now that this has happened." He paused, letting her absorb what he was saying.

She kept her eyes steadily pinned to the edge of the blanket that was across her chest. She chewed the inside of her lips, a downcast look on her features. She sighed, her breath catching in her throat. "I never meant for this to happen. I guess I just got too caught up in…." she paused, an odd look crossing her features, furrowing her brows and narrowing her eyes. "It's just," she stumbled over her words again, causing Horatio to frown in confusion. "I, ah…." Jo sighed deeply, sucking in air like some would liquid courage.

She closed her eyes briefly before looking back to Horatio. "I just wanted to do everything perfectly, but I ended up doing nothing right. All I did was make a fool out of myself, and scare the living shit out of Delko."

Horatio smiled, gently at her, dropping his gaze to the floor. "He'll recover," he said, looking back to her, "as shall you." Her eyes shot to his azure gaze, blinking slowly. She nodded and then smiled fleetingly. Horatio returned in kind, "I'll see you tomorrow," he said, as he stood gently and moved to the door.

"Lieutenant?" Jo called out as he reached for the doorknob. He stopped and turning around, raising his eyebrows in question. "Thank you." She said quietly. He nodded at her and then walked steadily out into the corridor, the door clicking shut behind him.

> > > >

The next morning, Horatio arrived back at the lab early. Unable to sleep after going home from the hospital, he had freshened up, eaten, and then, attempted to bore himself into sleep with late night television. When that hadn't worked, he had decided to come into work. Walking towards his office, he swung past the break room to grab a coffee.

Upon entering, he found Eric lying asleep on the couch, his case folder lying open on the coffee table. He smiled softly. Apparently Eric had had the same problem as he had. The adrenalin high after all the drama the afternoon before had taken a while to work its way out of their systems. Horatio walked quietly towards the coffee machine, not wanting to wake Eric up. After making his beverage, he made one for Eric and placed it on the table and then lightly shook his shoulder.

"Eric, Eric wake up," he said softly. Opening his eyes slowly, all Eric saw when he awoke was the face of his supervisor standing over him.

"Oh my god, H, I'm so sorry. I must have fallen asleep." Horatio smiled as Eric hurried tried to make himself presentable and awake.

"Calm down Eric, it's only four in the morning, you have a while before shift starts." Eric groaned softly as he lay back down on the lounge, rubbing his head.

"You having trouble sleeping too H?" He asked, glancing at his colleague out of the corner of his eye. Horatio's mind immediately ran head-long into his brother, the up-coming anniversary, the anxiety and nervous energy of yesterday's hospital visit and all the points of his case file before returning quickly to the man in front of him.

"Yeah, something like that." He said nodding. "Why don't you drink your coffee and go and get freshened up before shift starts?" H suggested, picking up his own coffee and heading towards the door.

"Thanks H," Eric said, sitting up and closing his eyes. "H?" He said, stopping Horatio at the door. "How is Jo?" He asked, his dark eyes looking anxiously at the red head. "Last time I saw, she was in recovery. Did she wake up?" H nodded.

"She'll be fine. They are keeping her in the hospital over the weekend." He paused, "Just in case." He smiled quickly at Eric before leaving the room.

Making his way up to his office, he smiled as he reached his desk. Piled up on the top, was a stack of files, with a hand-written note attached, penned in a familiar script. He sat down, placing his coffee cup on the desk and picked up the note.

'Hey Horatio,' the note started, 'I didn't know what time you would be back at the lab, so Speed and I did as much as we could before leaving, knowing that you would be in early. See you when we get there, Calleigh.'

Horatio smiled softly, studying the note once more before going through the files. There was Rebecca Lee's psych report from the plastic surgeon's office, the DMV read-out on Scott Hamill (who's driver's licence photo was a match to the surveillance photo- Calleigh had put them both in the same file so he could verify the comparison), plus the AFIS read-out on all the prints lifted from the keyboard from the café. H smiled at the way that Calleigh could read his mind when it came to knowing what he would want to process when he arrived.

Digging in, Horatio started to go through all the files, one by one, absorbing them and himself into the morning.

Hours later, Horatio was startled out of his reading by a light tapping on his office door. Looking up, he cleared his throat. "Come in," he said, moving his gaze back to the autopsy reports that Alexx had also left on his desk for him to sign.

"Good morning Horatio," Calleigh said walking into the room, Speed trailing in behind her. She smiled softly at him before placing a hot cup of coffee next to his empty mug from hours before.

"Thank you," he said, returning her gentle smile.

"So, H, what's the diagnosis with Jo? What did the doctors was wrong with her?" Speed asked, making himself comfortable in one of the chairs opposite Horatio. Calleigh sat down in the chair next to Speed, her gaze falling on her Lieutenant. Horatio sighed, shutting the folder in front of him.

"Wait," Calleigh said, pre-empting him, "does Eric know any of this?" she asked, "because if he doesn't, then he should be here for this as well." Horatio nodded, and then picked up his phone, and quickly paged Eric's cell.

"What time did you leave from the hospital Horatio?" Calleigh asked, taking in his exhausted and slightly dishevelled appearance.

"Not long before 7pm, just after Jo woke up." He replied, taking a swig from the coffee.

Speed frowned, "For the first time since she collapsed?" He asked, shocked. Horatio shook his head.

"No, she regained consciousness in the ER before falling asleep until then." Both the CSI's opposite him had identical looks of horror and disbelief on their faces. Just as they were about to press Horatio for details, another knock came from the door and Eric appeared in the doorway.

"H, you paged me?" He asked, confused by the presence of Calleigh and Speed in the room as well.

Horatio nodded, waving the young man in. "Yes Eric. Come in. I was just going to update them on Jo's diagnosis, and Calleigh thought that you should be here too." He said, smiling gently at Eric's nervous expression.

"Thanks." He said, moving in to sit on the couch on the left wall. Horatio leant back into his chair, closing his eyes softly before beginning.

"According to the limited information that her doctor would give me, Jo has Type 1 diabetes." The others nodded their knowledge. "Yesterday, she had an attack of what is called hypoglycaemic unawareness. Which, from what I can gather, means that she developed extremely low blood sugar, and didn't consciously recognise the symptoms. This is a side effect that sometimes develops in diabetics." He paused, waiting for the team to comment.

"So Jo had no idea what was going on with her yesterday?" Eric asked, bewildered. Horatio shook his head softly, sending him a sympathetic gaze.

"What caused it?" Calleigh asked, glancing between the men around her.

"She didn't take her insulin. And didn't have any glucose supplements on hand to stave off the effects until she got back to the lab to administer her medication."

Eric groaned softly from the lounge, "Oh my god, the Lifesavers. She must have left them in her lab coat."

Speed turned to him with a disbelieving look, "Lifesavers? Isn't that a little ironic?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"What Lifesavers?" Horatio asked, ignoring Speed's comment.

"She had a few rolls of the candy Lifesavers that she had left in the D.N.A lab that Valera gave me to give to her. Right before we left to go process the victim and his ex's places. She put them in her lab coat pocket, and must of left them there." Eric trailed off, shaking his head furiously, his frustration clearly evident.

"So, what happened with Jo at the hospital? Why are they keeping her there?" Calleigh said, turning their attention back to the missing team member.

"She would normally have been released last night, but Jo took longer than normal to respond to the treatment, taking even longer to regain consciousness. Also, considering this was apparently her first attack of unawareness, they decided to keep her in for observation." All the CSI's nodded, accepting the reason for her continued absence.

"Thanks H," Eric said, standing up, "I had better get going. I've got a lot of processing to do." He smiled tersely at the others, before walking out of Horatio's office, slowly making his way down the stairs.

As the door clicked shut, Horatio turned his attention back to his team sitting opposite him. "So, what did we find out about our Mr Hamill?" He asked, his blue eyes levelling the thoughts of Calleigh and Speed.

"Scott Edward Hamill, born August 1st 1968 in Greenville, Georgia. He has no criminal record, so to speak of, in either states but he is registered here as owning a Beretta Model 92FS." Calleigh said, a small smile on her face. "The 92FS is favoured by military personnel. I checked; our guy is an Army Reservist. Joined up in January. He might have gotten the weapon there. When we find the gun, I can run the serial number, see if it matches to the database, and determine whether it's our murder weapon." Calleigh finished, sitting back in her chair, a tense look on her face.

'They were getting closer and closer,' she thought as she looked to Speed: who sat forward, ready to take the floor.

"Our guy, when he isn't running through tyres at boot camp, works as a security guard for Eagle Security and Patrol downtown. Has worked there for the last ten years. Exemplary record, according to the secretary, really nice guy too, she said. Apparently he always pitches in extra shifts, great moral upstanding citizen. However, I looked through the personnel file she faxed me over, he has had a complaint lodged during his time there. Apparently he got too excited when trying to break up a fight at a gay bar two years ago. Two guys landed in the hospital with broken bones. But the security company said he acted within reason." Speed said, mordantly.

"That shows pre-exiting prejudice," Calleigh interjected, glancing quickly between the men before her.

"That it does, but does it prove murder?" Horatio asked, glancing quickly over the files. His gaze was hard, calculating, directed squarely at the photo of the suspect sitting in front of him.

"Do we have enough probable cause for a warrant?" Speed asked, "The assault on his file should be enough, same as the surveillance video footage. All we need is a control sample of his DNA to check it against our evidence, then we have him."

Horatio nodded, picking up his phone is the process, dialling as he went. "Gather your things, I'm going to call the A.S.A. Process the house thoroughly, see if there is any evidence of either his being there recently or where he is now, and then head back. The sooner we find this guy," He trailed off, "Hello, this is Lieutenant Horatio Caine, I need to speak with Don Huffman urgently please. Thank you."

As he waiting for the attorney to pick up, Speed and Calleigh silently left the room, Calleigh following behind, keeping her eyes on Horatio as she made her way to the door. "Don, Horatio here. My grandmother is well, thank you. How about granting me another favour?" He looked up to see Calleigh watching him, and frowned softly at her lingering. She smiled softly before walking out, shutting the door softly behind her.

> > > >

"Hey Delko!" Yelina called out as she made her way through the wall of the Crime Lab. She had just spotted the CSI as he walked towards the trace lab, casually pulling on his blue lab coat as he went.

Eric stopped at the sound of his name, turning around at the entrance to the lab to wait for the detective. "I got the warrant for the phone records that you ask for. Both Mr Johansson's cell and home phone records." Eric nodded as he walked inside the lab towards the refrigerator and pulled out a sample.

"Thanks Yelina," He replied, moving back to the desk and opening the small box, containing the evidence swab.

"I heard about the new girl, Joselyn. Is she going to be alright?" The woman asked, watching Eric as he cut off the end of the swab and placed it in the end of the snap top test-tube. When he didn't respond, choosing to continue to ready the sample, Yelina decided to change subjects. "What are you doing?"

"Testing the vomit sample that Jo found to see what were the last things our victim ate." Eric replied, placing the micropipette back and closing the lid on the tube, then walking over and inserting the sample into the GC/MS.

"Why? What does that have to do with his death?" She asked, as he walked back to the table and leant against it, waiting.

"Well, one of the drugs in his system, tranylcypromine is an anti-depressant called a monoamine oxidase inhibitor. These MAOI's react with any food or drinks that contains a substance called tyramine, which when it comes in contact with the drug, can cause fatal hypertension."

"Which is what killed your victim." She finished, nodding.

"Right," Eric said, crossing his arms across his chest, impatiently.

They stood in silence, waiting for the results to come sliding out the printer. After a while, a beeping broke each from their reverie as the machine started to eject read-outs, each identifying a foodstuffs. Eric quickly walked over and started to read the pages, quickly scanning them for the fatal item. After a moment, he smiled, then started towards the door still reading.

"Thanks Yelina, page me when you have those phone records," He called after himself, exiting.

"No problem Eric," she replied to the now empty room.

> > > >

Alexx heard footsteps approach her morgue as she stood gently sewing up her latest patient, an elderly woman, who had died in her home. The doors swung open and she looked up to see Eric standing in front of her, holding some papers.

"Hey Alexx," he said, a focussed but unnerved energy about him.

"Hey sugar, I will be with you in a minute, just got to finish up with this poor soul," She said, glancing quickly up at the young CSI from her work.

"That's okay," He said, walking slowly around the room, "take your time. I just need to ask you a few questions."

Alexx looked up at him, "Go ahead. I could use the small talk." She replied, watching him for a moment before going back to her work. Eric kept silence, choosing to keep his attention on nothing in particular. "Everything alright sugar?"

"Yeah, it's just the case, that's all." He replied casually, turning to face the doctor.

"You sure?" She said knowingly, looking up at him from under her dark brows.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Eric replied, frowning at her.

"I don't know, you just seem a little uneasy. You want to talk about it?" She pulled the last suture and then picked up the scissors. E

ric dropped his head, smiling. He knew he was caught. Shaking his head, he watched Alexx finish up and methodically place her instruments back onto the tray to her right, before finally bringing her attention to the man across from her.

"Speak baby," she said softly, a look of tender affection on her face.

"It's nothing really, I ah, just wanted to thank you for your help with Jo yesterday." He said, dodging.

Alexx studied him a moment before replying, "That's quite alright sugar, it feels good to help keep the breathing ones alive, when all you do day after day, is help the dead as much as you can, when there is nothing else to do." She finished quietly, her soft gaze penetrating Eric's façade. He smiled softly at her, nodding.

"Thanks," he said softly, before clearing his throat, and glancing down to the papers in his hand. "Ah, now, the case, the dead naturalist. I just wanted to know what you found in the stomach contents, that's all."

Alexx smiled, walking over to the refrigerator in the corner, Eric in tow. She had accepted the swap into 'shop talk'; obviously Eric didn't want to talk about Jo. Opening the cooler door, she pulled out an evidence jar, containing the stomach contents and handed it to Eric.

"There wasn't much left, he must of vomited most of it up. I did find some in his nasal cavities and mouth; the swabs are with trace. This is all that was left sugar. Knock yourself out," she stopped, caught at the inappropriateness of her comment.

Eric shook his head, "Nah, Jo already beat me to it, and we need at least one CSI on this case, right?" He said, a forgiving smile on his face.

"Sorry honey," she said, contrite.

He dropped his gaze, "It's alright Alexx, really. I'm good. It's not me we have to worry about."

"Maybe," Alexx replied, pulling off her gloves and walking over and putting them in the trash, "But I will anyway." She touched his arm gently as she walked over to the body again, picking up the folder at the end.

"I'll see you later Alexx," Eric said, making his way towards the door. She watched him, still not quite satisfied with her efforts in trying to help the younger man.

"Eric," She called out just before he reached the door. He turned to face her, his face neutral. "Whatever reasons Jo had, whatever is troubling her, none of that is yours. Understand?" Eric sighed, a sad smile pulling at his face.

He nodded before silently walking out of the morgue, leaving the doors swinging shut behind him. Alexx sighed, glancing down to the elderly woman below her.

"Were they always this hard to get through to?" She asked her, a resigned frustration on her face. The room silent with an unheard reply, Alexx glanced back up to the doors before zipping up the bag on the woman, closing the final chapter of her patient.

> > > >

Calleigh let the mattress drop back down onto the base with a loud thump. A frustrated sigh escaped her as she wearily pulled herself up into a standing position. "Another dead end," she said shortly, as she placed her hands on her hips, in a move closely resembling Horatio's standard pose.

"Well, I wouldn't quite say that, but we are pretty close to reaching it." Speed replied, snapping off a few photographs of the barren bathroom before moving into the adjoining bedroom. He walked to the wall opposite Calleigh's position next to the bed. Pausing, Speed glanced over to Calleigh, who was studying the ground, her eyes narrowed in thought. "Calleigh?" He asked, concerned at her silence.

"What?" She replied, pulling her attention back to him.

"What are you thinking?" He asked, turning back around to sweep his eyes over the work desk that faced the wall.

Calleigh shook her head, sighing, "We have a toothbrush that looks new, no gun and no him. You don't suppose he was stupid enough to leave his forwarding address, do you?" She asked Speed, who smiled at her comment. She walked over to stand next to him. "Got anything?" she asked, surveying the piles carefully.

Speed was flipping his way through a few letters, left open on the desk. "Nothing much, just a few unpaid bills and unopened letters. Here's hoping he sends us a postcard."

"Here's hoping," she replied before turning around, doing a once over of the room.

"I'm going to go check around outside. See if he left anything behind when he ran away." Speed nodded absently, his attention still on the papers in front of him.

"Okay Calleigh," he murmured, snapping off a few more shots before logging the letters as evidence. She smiled at his unresponsiveness, as she picked up her kit and moved down the hall.

Making her way out the front door, she restlessly walked down the steps and towards the side of the house, sweeping her mag light slowly across the wooden slats that enclosed the crawl space underneath the run-down cottage. A uniform watched her from the front path as she turned the corner of the house and walk slowly down the left side of the house.

Half way down the wall, she noticed a large gap at the bottom where some of the slats had been broken off and been left open, unearthed ground beneath them. Frowning, she crouched down to shine her torch into the small cave, the light glinting off the cobwebs and wooden beams that raised the house off the ground.

Calleigh moved back slightly, to study the ground beneath her. "Officer," she called out around the house.

A young uniformed poked his face around the corner, "Yes ma'am?"

"Could you please go and get CSI Speedle for me? Thank you," she said, her gaze glancing up quickly at the man before moving back to focus on the tracks before her.

Placing her kit down, she pulled out her camera and scale ruler, snapping off a few shots before placing the marking tool down and snapping more shots of the tracks. Leaning forward, she photographed the opening, noticing something caught on the upper right hand corner, sticking out from the jagged wood.

Reaching behind her to her kit, she pulled out the tweezers and gently removed the small slither of what looked like fabric from the piling. "Hey, you called?" A voice from her left asked.

"Yeah Tim, what does this look like to you?" She asked, holding out the specimen to Speed as he reached her side.

"Fabric of some sort, cotton maybe, why?" He asked, crouching down next to her.

"I found it on the opening to this little hidey-hole. I'm thinking our guy was holed up in here, playing house underneath it." Calleigh said, placing the fibre into an evidence bag and depositing it in her kit.

"Could be," Speed replied. He shone his torch down to the tracks just in front of Calleigh. "Do you think that he crawled in under here and hid from us when we were here yesterday?"

Calleigh nodded, moving her attention back to the tracks. "I think so," she said, turning to Speed. "You want to shoot for who gets to go under there?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow at the man.

"Well, it looks a little cosy under there, and you are considerably smaller than me." He replied, deliberately turning his attention back to the hole to avoid seeing the death glare she directed at him.

"Sometimes Timothy Speedle, I just want to …" She trailed off darkly, her eyes narrowed and pinned at the man next to her.

"Yeah, but you know you want to do it. You never resist a challenge." He said, glancing back to her.

Calleigh tried valiantly to smother the smile that was forcing its way onto her face, so she turned away and deposited her camera back into her case. "I'll just go get changed," she said, standing up quickly and starting back towards the Hummer. Speed dropped his head smiling when he heard her call back over her shoulder, "You owe me Tim, and don't think I won't be collecting." Pulling his head back from his chest he shook his head, a wry smile painted on his lips.

"Yeah sure."

> > > >

Eric glanced quickly around the halls of the hospital, as he made his way towards the ward's reception desk. Following the signs, he eventually spotted the workstation, complete with bustling nurses and hurried desk clerks. As he made his way towards them, he noticed the wall chart, filled out with all the patients names, complete with 'Adams' printed up in black marker, with 'Endo' written neatly next to it.

Hestopped at the counter, waiting patiently as the clerk was talking on the phone, until she hung up the phone, to glance up at him and smile. "How may I help you?"

"My name is Eric Delko, I just wanted to see Joselyn Adams, she came in yesterday with hypoglycaemia." He said, nervously, not liking the piercing look the woman was giving him, "I'm a colleague of hers from the Miami-Dade Crime Lab." He quickly showed her his badge to verify before she smiled softly.

"Room 323, down the hall to your left, take the first right and then it's the fourth door down." She said, gesturing in the direction with her arm.

"Thank you," he replied before heading off down the hall.

As he reached her door, he slowed, unsure of whether or not he should've come to see her. 'What do I say?' he argued with himself, 'Hi, how are you doing? Oh and by the way, thank you for not telling me about this yesterday?' He stopped at the door, looking through the small window to see if she was even there.

Through the glass, he could see that she was lying down, presumably asleep as the television was turned off and her blankets were pulled up to her chin. Paused at the door, he waited, still unsure.

Suddenly a noise behind him pulled his attention back, as a nurse pulled her trolley to a stop next to the door.

Excuse me," she said politely, as Eric quickly dodged out of the way for the nurse, whom's nametag read 'Jennifer'.

"Sorry," he shot off quickly as Jennifer moved around him to open the door. "Here, let me," he said, holding the door open as she pushed the trolley inside and moved it to a stop next to the bed.

"Jo, sweetie, are you awake?" She asked softly, pulling some things out of the drawers on the side of the trolley.

"No," came the muffled reply from the covers.

"It's time to check your levels." The nurse said cheerily, swapping her instruments for the glucometer from the table next to the bed.

"Yey," Jo replied sarcastically, exhaustion colouring her voice as she pulled herself up slightly. Eric stood in the doorway as the nurse inserted a new tab into the machine and then handed it to the sleepy Jo. "You enjoy this, don't you?" the Australian asked, the needle penetrating her fingertip with a quick crack as the glucometer thrust it into her skin.

"What?" Jennifer replied casually, reading over Jo's chart from the end of the bed.

"Watching your patients slowly morph into pin cushions," she replied drolly, sinking tiredly into the pillows behind her.

"Yeah well, I have to get my kicks somehow sweetheart." Jennifer shot back, smiling at her patient as she walked back to the bed and handed her a tissue to place on her bleeding finger.

"Glad to help," Jo replied, rubbing her eyes with her right hand, sighing. The small machine beeped softly from the bed, finished with its analysis.

"Hmmm, 7, still a little low. We'll keep monitoring this; see how you are adjusting to the new insulin type. Hopefully, your levels will pick up soon and then when you are stable, you can go home." She glanced down at Jo before picking up her needle and insulin vial from the bedside table. "You want to do this?" She asked, filling the needle to the right level and handing Jo the antiseptic swab.

"Rather not let you stick me," the younger woman replied, lifting her top to swab her stomach and allowing the needle to be deposited in her hand.

Eric watched with mild repugnance as Jo casually pushed the needle into her stomach and injected her insulin into her body. He cringed as she pulled the syringe out and handed it back to her, sighing deeply as she did so. "Thanks," Jo said, smiling softly, as Jennifer cleared away her things and smiled gently down at her patient.

"How are you feeling?" She asked her, as Jo settled herself back down into the bed and pulled the rugs back up around her.

"Tired. I don't like being woken up every hour to be jabbed, but hey, the sooner I get better, the sooner I can leave." Jo said, fatigue and distaste colouring her voice.

"You really don't like hospitals, do you?" Jennifer teased, making her way back to her trolley.

"You've read my chart. I would rather be flayed alive than be here." Jo replied, a small smile on her face, as the nurse turned her trolley around and headed towards the door.

"Sorry sweetheart but this place is keeping you alive, so until you're better, you'll be here. And maybe, if you hate it that much, and I'm feeling kind, we could arrange the flaying," the nurse replied as she stopped at the door.

She turned around and winked at her patient. "See you later." The nurse called over her shoulder as she met with Eric at the entrance. "Excuse me," she paused, indicating that Eric needed to move out of the doorway.

"Oh sorry," he said, ducking into the room to clear the path for the woman. Jo turned quickly to face Eric at hearing his voice. She kept her eyes on him, startled by his presence here, not even noticing the R.N's exit. "Hi," Eric said, smiling softly at Jo. He stood awkwardly at the door, not knowing what to say.

"How long have you been standing there?" Jo asked, breaking the loud silence.

"Do you go through that every day?" He asked, stepping towards her slowly.

"3 to 4 times a day, more just testing glucose levels. Every day, 365 days a year for the last 10 years, and for the rest of my life, yeah." She replied, touching her IV line unconsciously.

"I'm sorry," He said quickly.

"Don't be, you're not my pancreas." She shot back, a small smile on her face. She sobered, studying Eric quickly, "So, what are you doing here?"

He shifted, "I just came to see how you were doing today, that's all." Jo nodded softly, rubbing her hand over her eyes.

"I'm good, all things considered. How are you?"

Eric smiled tersely, flashing her the papers in his hand, "Good yeah." Jo watched him, unsure of his answer before she moved her gaze to his hand.

"How's the case coming along? Figured out who killed him yet?" She asked, a small, toying smile on her lips.

"Not quite, but I have figured out what killed him," He replied, walking over and handing her the printouts.

"Avocado and banana. These caused his hypertension?" She said incredulously.

"Yeah, according to A.M.A database, the synthetic medication we found in his blood reacts with foods that contain tyramine, causing sometimes fatal high blood pressure."

"Hmm, food that can kill you, I certainly know that feeling." She murmured softly, her eyes scanning quickly over the pages. Eric dropped his head, not wanting to say anything. "Any ideas on who?" She asked, drawing back his attention.

Eric shook his head, "No, but I've subpoenaed his phone records, both cell and home phone, and all the other's medical records." Jo nodded, handing the pages back to Eric.

"And?"

"I've got to check them against his day planner, see what appointments he had with the Health Club and run the rest through the system."

"Well, if you need some help, I can always run comparisons on paperwork from here. Beats watching daytime TV." She looked up at Eric, to find him looking uncertain. "Come on Eric, I feel guilty enough about everything as it is, let me help you out." She almost begged.

After a couple of long, silent seconds he eventually nodded, "Alright, but only if you promise to take it easy."

"Deal." Jo replied, a large, tired smile spreading across her face. After a moment, her face fell, her bottom lip becoming trapped behind an uneasy look. "Eric, I want to apologise for yesterday. I didn't mean for it to happen, and I know I should of told you about it beforehand. I am so sorry. I really am," she trailed off, her gaze shifting away from Eric to flit aimlessly around the room.

Eric nodded, "Thank you," he said softly, before pausing. "H mentioned that the doctors said you didn't know what was happening. Is that true?"

She turned her eyes back to his, a sad guilt awash on her face. "I've only ever collapsed twice before but this was, ah," she paused, "This was the first time it was out of my control. The first time I really didn't notice what I was doing, saying, how I was behaving."

Eric nodded, "Detective Salas mentioned that it looked like you were drunk."

Jo shook her head, "No, if I was drunk I would have been giggling. Not that I can get drunk, but…" She stopped, deciding to not get into the specifics. She sighed, ducking her gaze quickly before looking back up to meet the Cuban's dark gaze. "Thank you for coming to see me today."

"No problems," He said with a dismissive smile. "I'll be back later with some stuff for you."

"I'm not going anywhere," Jo said casually.

Eric smiled as he turned to leave the room. "See you later."

"Bye Delko." She said as she watched Eric make his way out of her room, and heard his footsteps echo down the hall.

> > > >

Horatio stalked through the labs in search of his colleagues. They had phoned him from Scott Hamill's residence, telling him the minimal results of their search, except for the hideaway they had found. Now, back at the lab, he was also in search of an update.

Soon, he spotted Calleigh and Speed standing in the trace lab, pouring over a specimen in the microscope. Making his way towards them, he saw Calleigh pull up, and look around, her eyes then falling on him as he reached the glass door of room. "Got anything?" He asked, stopping opposite them.

Speed sighed, casting a quick look at Calleigh before replying. "There wasn't much to go on in the evidence we collected from inside his house, but we did manage to find something interesting from Calleigh's adventure under it. Take a look," He said, gesturing to the microscope.

H walked over, and leant down, seeing green vegetation lit up brightly in white. "Taxodium distichum," Speed said, watching Horatio.

"Bald Cypress, The Everglades." H replied, looking back to Speed and Calleigh.

"That narrows the search for our guy down to 5000 square miles of land," Calleigh commented.

Horatio nodded, "But it means that he hasn't skipped town, has he? He's just hiding from us. Speed, call Tripp, and tell him to get the choppers out there, looking for recent tyre track or Army issue camouflage." Speed frowned for a second, before deciding not comment, and then walked out the room, cell phone in hand.

Horatio turned his attention to his remaining colleague, who was studying him attentively. "Calleigh, any luck on tracing his credit cards or phone records?"

She shook her head, frowning. "Nothing today, he made two purchases late Tuesday. Both downtown, one at a newsagent local to the Internet café he frequented, and the other was at the supermarket, where he bought $50 worth of what we think were supplies. There hasn't been anything since, but we are keeping an eye on it."

"Well, he has to buy gas sometime, all those trips to the Glades and back would be eating through it pretty quickly. And the moment he does, I want to know where and where he's going next, alright?" Horatio asked, a focussed intent on his face.

Calleigh nodded. "You got it Horatio." He smiled at her, his eyes softening slightly, the dangerous edge melting ever so much.

"Are you alright?" he asked, sensing the anxiety and restless energy that was etched deeply into Calleigh.

"Ah, it's nothing really. Just bothered that's all. We had him yesterday, he was there, and we just didn't look hard enough. And now, he's probably hiding out under a tree somewhere, laughing at how a mere Army Reservist outplayed the Miami Dade Police." She said bitterly, a violent sparkle appearing in her narrowed eyes.

"Then obviously, he has no idea who he's up against." He said softly, catching her eyes and smiling gently at her.

"We'll find him." He said confidently,

"And when we do," she finished "you'll bury him." Calleigh smirked at Horatio.

He dropped his head momentarily before reaching out and gently touching her upper arm. "I heard Speed owes you," he said.

Calleigh smiled, "Damn straight. That's the last time I let him goad me into crawling through dark spaces underneath houses," An involuntary shudder rippled down her back. H smiled at her as she paused before continuing her rant. "He's paying my dry-cleaning bill, I already told him that."

Just as she was about to continue, Tyler came racing into the room. "Lieutenant Caine, Scott Hamill just used his credit card. Bought gas from a station out at Kendall Lakes. A squad car was nearby, recognised the numberplates from the amber alert and followed him. He apparently took a boat out into the Glades, just south of the Tamiami Trial, into the Shark River Slough. They are waiting for you."

Horatio nodded, quickly moving off. "Thank you Tyler." He said, as he and Calleigh made their way down the halls towards the garage. Horatio pulled out his cell phone, dialling quickly. "Speed, Tell Tripp to meet us at Chekika, grab the kits and meet us in the garage." He flipped his phone off and glanced back to Calleigh who was just behind his left elbow.

"We got him," he said darkly as they reached the locker room, both hell bent on the hunt. The pair soon made their way down to Speed, energised and electric.

They were finally ahead.

TBC


	5. Chapter Five

"... If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us..."  
(Hermann Hesse)

* * *

Moving slowly through the fresh water slough, Calleigh could hear every lap of water against the bottom of their Airboat, every anxious breath sighed in and out, every brush of the saw grass against the skin of her upper arms.

They had met up with the Rangers upon arriving at Chekika and were now inching their way through the Glades. Where their suspect would be finally caught. `Hopefully,' she thought before shaking her head softly.

They had followed the trail of broken reeds and rippled water to here, heading south towards the Pinelands. Speed sighed out next to her, he too, anxious to get Scott Hamill in their clutches.

She turned to catch Speed's gaze, throwing him a small smile before glancing around to the rest of their small boating contingent, all of which were converging quickly upon their target.

A flash of red hair caught her eyes, as Horatio's unit came into view. He had separated from them, joining Tripp and the Rangers in point position.

About 20 yards left of her, Horatio stood on his boat, eyes zeroed in, lasers hidden beneath his dark glasses, gun out, hands clasped tightly around the grip.

They were almost there, she mused as the boat was pushed on through the Glades.

"Chopper One to Ground, Chopper One to Ground. We spotted something, about two clicks South West of your current position. Heat signature shows it as human. It's underneath a tree, sheltered under what looks to be a small dingy. Copy that? Over."

The radio on the hip of the Ranger next to Calleigh crackled to life. "Copy Chopper One. Heading there now, Over." The ranger replied. He turned to his partner and edged the boat southwest.

They started to inch their way closer, flanked by three other airboats. All were moving slowly towards the target, determination and anxiety filling the muggy air.

Soon, through the reeds, a collection of large pine trees came into sight, about 100 feet from their position.

Horatio held up his arm, causing all to stop where they were. He indicated to Tripp, who was standing next to him that he had spotted something. Pulling out the binoculars, the detective looked to the place Horatio had pointed to.

"Damn your eyes are good Caine," He said, pulling the binoculars down and pulling out his cell phone.

A few seconds later, Calleigh's phone vibrated against her hip, causing her to pick it up. "Duquesne," she said quietly into the receiver.

"Horatio spied our boat, it's hidden under the fourth tree from the east," Calleigh motioned to Speed to pick up the binoculars, trying to spot what Horatio had. Tripp continued in her ear. "Look for a black tarpaulin and some army camouflage. We are about to move in, you ready?" Tripp's rough voice softly filtered through her cell.

Calleigh glanced around the faces of the people in her boat."Copy that, just say when." She replied.

"Okay, on my signal." He shot back, snapping off his cell phone.

Calleigh replaced her back onto her belt before turning to Speed, who had dropped the binoculars back down and was waiting patiently for her to reply. "We're about to move in. When Tripp gives us the signal, we'll go."

He and the other men around her nodded, all readying themselves.

A tense silence fell over them, each waiting, watching, their eyes locked on their target and their minds preparing for battle. Silently the boat inched forward again, the Ranger behind Calleigh pushing them closer towards Scott Hamill.

She placed her hand to her right hip, unclipping her holster, and wrapping her hand firmly around the gun grip. She gently eased the gun from her hip, bringing her left hand to join the other wrapped around the grip and holding it out in front of her.

Speed pulled his out too, a little more casually than Calleigh. He watched the trees, watching for any sign of disturbance or action. They waited, in impatient silence, for Tripp's voice to order the command.

Calleigh's eyes never moved from the target. In her mind, the trees had morphed into the black targets that littered the shooting range in her lab. And Scott Hamill's hidden figure was the smallest circle there was.

Behind her, the shoulder of an Officer crackled into life, startling Calleigh momentarily. "Now! Move, Move, Move!" Came the rough tone of the Texan Detective. The Airboats whirred to life, moving them swiftly towards the target.

They roared through the sloughs, almost floating above the water as they got within spitting distance of the trees.

Suddenly, a figure emerged from the trees, jumping into the water and wading through, trying desperately to escape from the converging Authorities. "Go round to his right, make sure he doesn't get away," Horatio's voice came through the radio. Calleigh's airboat veered off, following the orders, swiftly moving in on the soldier.

Scott Hamill was floundering away when they reached him. Calleigh held out her weapon, cocked at the man who had eluded her. "Miami Dade Police, freeze!" Speed joined her in holding the man at gunpoint. Their suspect kept moving, glancing quickly back at Calleigh and Speed over his shoulder as he frantically waded away.

"Stop! Or I will be forced to shoot you," She yelled again, her gun tracking the man as he continued to wade away from them. The ranger behind her inched their boat towards him, making sure he didn't get too far away.

Just as Calleigh was about to warn him again, Horatio's airboat pulled out in front of Scott, blocking his escape. The man stopped, thwarted. He looked around quickly, trying to find another route to escape.

Before he could, a ranger and two uniformed officers jumped into the water, wading over to him. He turned and started to wade away from the men, but ran flat into Calleigh and Speed's airboat.

Moaning loudly at hitting his stomach on the boat, Scott Hamill was practically lying on the platform in front of Calleigh and Speed. The men behind Calleigh bent down and grabbed Scott roughly by the shoulders and hauled him onto the platform, pinning him face down and handcuffing him. He heard a gun cock, and pulled his eyes up to see Calleigh gun's staring down at him.

"Scott Hamill you are under arrest for murder." She kept her cool blue gaze fixed on the man lying down in front of her.

She was so focussed on her target that she didn't notice anything else until Horatio touched her arm gently. He had taken off his shades, his blue gaze trying to catch hers.

"Calleigh," He said gently, as Tripp dragged the prisoner up and pushed him non-so-gently over to his airboat that had somehow made its way over to the other without her noticing. She turned to Horatio as she fleetingly heard Frank `mirandising' their suspect. "We got him," he said softly, the determination in his voice softened with Calleigh.

She nodded, shooting him a soft smile.

Speed stepped up next to Calleigh, interrupting the couple in front of him. "So, what now?" He asked, glancing between the two. H paused, before stepping back over to the airboat that he had arrived on.

"I want you to photograph everything as is. Bag and Tag and then have it all brought back to the lab. Including the boat. I want to know every place this guy has been in the last week, and I want every minute piece of evidence catalogued and processed as soon as possible. Calleigh, we need to find that gun."

She nodded at his request. "On it, Horatio. Are you going to head back with Tripp?" He nodded back, replacing his shades over his eyes.

"Call me when you find something." And with that he headed off, following the trail back to the waiting detective.

"See you H." Speed called out to his supervisor's back. He sighed as the fiery Lieutenant quickly made his way out of their view.

Calleigh snapped on a pair of gloves next to him, calling his attention back to their job. "Alright, let's get started, shall we?"

They started to manuover their boat over to the small rubber dingy that had housed Scott Hamill in the Glades. Speed started to photograph the boat, double snapping shots off at the required angles as Calleigh knelt down on the edge of the platform, leaning in to start going through the contents of the boat.

"God, what a freak. Look at everything. It's so... ordered. Folded and stacked. Even the trash." Speed commented as he kept handing Calleigh bags. "Yeah well, that's good for us, right? It means that it makes our job easier, because he has so neatly organised everything for us to go through. What a pity, that we'll have to mess up all his hard work." She said placing some clothes in a bag and handing it back to her companion.

"Yeah. The poor guy." Speed said sardonically.

"Hey, why I am doing this?" She asked, looking back at Speed.

"Because it's your job." He replied mockingly, not quite understanding what she meant.

"No, I mean, why I am doing to job where I am elbow deep in rubbish? You owe me Tim Speedle. I crawled under a house, you can be on trash duty." She said, holding out her hand so Speed could help her up and trade places.

"Fine. But only since I am such a nice person." He said, pulling Calleigh up and handing her the camera. "Swap you," He said, as she handed him an evidence bag, the bright smile on her face really beginning to annoy him.

"Why thank you," she commented, snapping shots of the retrieved evidence as Speed continued to photograph.

Half an hour later, they had collected all they could from the boat and called to the Ranger to have the boat lifted out and taken to the Crime Lab. Calleigh had a dark expression on her face as she and Speed stood on one of the airboats that was now making it's way loudly through the Glades. "What's the matter Cal?" Speed asked, shooting a worried glance at her.

"We still haven't found the gun." She said. "The one piece of evidence we need to properly link him to the murders, and we haven't got it. He could have disposed of it anywhere and I've got a horrible feeling that we're going to have to drag the whole of the Everglades to find it." She paused. "Wait, stop the boat."

She turned around to face the Ranger who was driving them back. He nodded and pulled the boat to a stop. "Calleigh, what are you doing?" Speed asked as she started to remove her boots and pull on the black water pants over her clothes.

"Can you please take me back to the crime scene? Thank you," She continued to the ranger before finally turning to Speed. "I'm going to stay and look for the gun. I'm thinking that he must have thrown it when he heard us coming. Airboats are not the most stealth of vehicles."

"Do you want me to stay and help?" He asked, watching as she pulled her hair up into a bun at the back of her head.

"No, get back to the lab and start processing everything else. Horatio is going to want some answers. We have got to give him something."

"Alright, but call me if you need me to head back out, ok?"

She nodded. "Thanks Tim, I'll see you later." She touched his arm gently before jumping over to the other Airboat that would take her back to the scene.

He watched as Calleigh quickly sped away from him, back into the rushes and trees into the sunset sky. He turned back to the Ranger that was waiting patiently for him. "Let's go." Speed said, sighing.

* * *

Eric sighed from his position at the table in the layout room as he flicked through the pages of results. He rubbed his eyes quickly before taking a mouthful of his coffee from the cup sitting next to the folder he was reading. He yawned softly, he hadn't gotten much sleep over the night and it was finally catching up with him.

Scrubbing his eyes gently, he shook his head before focussing on the page again. "Didn't know that forensics was that boring to you Eric," came the voice from the door. He glanced up to see Alexx standing there.

"It isn't. Just the pages that it's printed on are." He smiled gently at her.

"Never my favourite part either. But there is some satisfaction when the paperwork makes the case for you. When the bad guys forget that everything they do is documented." She said, sitting leaning against the doorjamb, her arms crossed against her chest.

"Yeah," Eric murmured, scanning the pages again. She studied the distracted man, her mouth pulling into a small smile.

"Well, I'll leave you to it. Looks like you are hard at work," she said, as Eric frowned and flicked the pages over, re-reading the pages again. "See you later sugar." She said, her dark eyes twinkling softly as she headed back out of the break room. `Nothing like work to bury yourself in,' she thought as she headed back towards her morgue. `Must be catching with the men in this lab.'

Eric barely heard her leave, he was too engrossed in what he was reading. He was going through the medical records of all the major `players' in the death of Seton Johannsen, trying to find out who had the prescription that killed the man. He had all the other evidence from the case spread down the table, all the way to the other end.

Suddenly the vibrating of his cell phone broke the silence in the room, rumbling loudly against the table. He picked it up, glancing at the display before flipping his phone open. "Delko," he paused, waiting for the reply.

"Hey," Jo's voice came through from the other end, "how's it going?"

He smiled softly, "Slowly. Found anything?" He asked.

"Other than bad acting and tacky sets on daytime television. But hey, at least I'm ahead of my mother in Bold and the Beautiful." She said, her voice smiling.

"Jo," He replied shortly.

"Kidding Delko. I've found a few interesting discrepancies in the phone records." Jo said.

"Yeah," Eric rubbed his hands across his eyes again.

"The day before he died, Mr Johannsen received a phone call from Ms Romany's home phone. The interesting thing is, that in her statement to Detective Salas, she maintains that she hadn't talked to him in weeks."

"Really?" He asked, perking back up.

"Yes, and I also talked to one of his clients, a Ms Laura Warne. Mr Johannsen had her scheduled in for the day he died. Apparently our guy cancelled their long-standing weekly appointment the hour before he was supposed to meet her. Laura said that he didn't offer much in the way of an explanation. All he said was that he had a personal thing that had come up suddenly and he would fit her in later that day."

"That's interesting." Eric commented, as he stood up and moved over to an exhibit further down on the table.

"Definitely. You had better call Detective Salas to bring Ms Romany in for a chat."

"Okay, I'll talk to you later then." He said, bending over the table to study some of the exhibits.

"See you Delko." The two hung up, as Eric swapped his phone for the stack of business papers from the table. Leafing through them, he noticed some letters address to the victim that were handwritten.

Scanning through them quickly, he took in the neat script that belied the harsh, offensive words and colourful language. Frowning, he gathered the evidence and headed towards Fingerprints.

* * *

Speed glanced around, camera in hand and snapped off another shot of the rubber dingy that he was standing next to. He had raised the vessel and was now lighting and photographing it for trace.

He was also preoccupied. Calleigh was still to get in contact with him, and it had been almost an hour since he had left her in the Glades to go gun hunting.

Speed knew that she was obsessive about her beloved firearms, but even he thought that wading around in the Everglades in the dark was taking things a little too far.

Horatio was still sitting in with Tripp as they interviewed Scott Hamill. They were yet to have any substantial links to Hamill and the crime, but they knew it was this guy. There was just something about him that screamed `murderer!' At the moment H and Tripp were just asking routine questions about the night of the homicides, and his association with Rebecca Lee.

Speed took another photograph, before bending down next to the dingy and meticulously running his mag light over the surface. Inch by inch, he scoured the rubber surface for minute materials that would pin this guy.

Half an hour later he paused, furrowing his dark brows. `Hello,' He thought, snapping off the regulatory double shots before reaching over to his kit to pull out a swab.

Running it a spot on the side of the small boat, he moved back over to his kit and pulled out the bottle of phenalphthylein. Squirting the clear liquid over the swab, followed by a drop or two of hydrogen peroxide, he watched it turn a pinky red colour.

`Positive for blood.'

Turning back to the boat, he studied it gently before picking up the bottle of luminol from his kit. Methodically, he sprayed the floor and sides of the dingy, watching with interest as small spots on the sides started to glow the bright blue colour, indicative of blood.

As he went to photograph, his cell phone rang loudly on his hip.

"Hello," He said, bending down to deposit the luminol bottle back on the ground.

"Hey Speed, it's Tripp. Got anything?"

"Nothing definite, I still need to run a few things through the lab, but the boat tested positive for blood." He replied, shifting his weight impatiently.

"Is it our victim's?" The detective asked.

"I don't know. I'll need to run a comparison; at the moment it could be anyone's. I need a DNA sample from our guy. Can you get me a warrant?" Speed asked.

"Should be able to." Tripp replied, his voice edgy. They all wanted to get this guy.

"I'll come down in a minute to collect it. I have to finish photographing the boat."

"Where Duquesne? Can't she come and do it?"

"Calleigh is still out in the Glades, searching for the gun."

Tripp paused, his voice silent from the other end. "In the dark? Does Horatio know?" Tim sighed.

"No, and I don't know when she'll get back. You know Calleigh, nothing stops her."

"Sounds familiar." The older man commented. "Alright, I'll get that warrant drawn up and I'll see you when you get down here."

"Yeah, later Tripp." Speed said, hanging up. He clipped his phone back to his hip and then picked his camera back up, snapping off the shots of the fading luminol, before glancing down at his watch. "Where are you Calleigh?" He asked into the echoing room.

* * *

Her torchlight illuminated the rippling water surrounding her, shining back through the dark night. She pushed on through the water, wading slowly around the tree. To her left she heard a rustle as she took another step through the slough.

Jumping slightly, she whipped around to where she thought the noise came from. She lifted the pole she was carrying, for tapping against the waterbed to feel for the gun. Wielding it like a bat, she spun around, scanning the reeds frantically. `God, get it together Duquesne. It's just a tree for crying out loud!' She chastised herself before glancing back to the airboat behind her.

"Got anything gentlemen?" Calleigh asked, shooting them a smile.

"Only the mosquitoes. You found it yet?" She shook her head, her smile dropping softly.

"Not yet, but I know it's around here somewhere. I can feel it in my waters." Calleigh teased. The men chuckled, as she turned back to her search.

* * *

The stark lighting in the interrogation room highlighted the circles under Jeanne Romany's ice blue eyes. She nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before pulling her glance up to Eric, who was sitting across from her.

He sighed, knowing it was late, and they were all tired. "Ms Romany, I wanted to talk to you again about your ex's death." Eric asked, glancing quickly at Yelina, who was sitting next to him.

"Couldn't this wait until tomorrow. I have to be at work at 7am to meet a contract deadline for a client. I've told you everything I already know about Seton's death." Eric dropped his head, a sympathetic, knowing smile briefly crossing his face.

"I understand, believe me. But I just want to double check a few things." He said softly, his dark eyes catching hers.

"The sooner you answer our questions, the sooner you can go home." Yelina commented, trying to placate the woman across from her.

Jeanne nodded, defeated. "Alright." Eric threw a relieved look at Yelina before glancing back down to his notes.

"In the four years that you were together, did you ever notice Mr Johannsen take anti-depressants?" He glanced back up to her.

She looked confused. "What, like Prozac?" He nodded in affirmation. "No, only that natural shit, St. John's whatever. I never got his obsession with all the herbal medicines. Give me a doctor over leaves and twigs any day." She remarked, pulling the end of her sweater over her hands nervously.

"Yeah," Eric said, nodding, "So, when was the last time you saw him?"

"You've already asked me this."

"I know, but I need you to tell me again. Please Ms Romany, it's very important." She was quickly losing patience with them, Eric could see.

Jeanne sighed, "Alright, I saw him Wednesday, two weeks ago. He confronted me at work. I was leaving for the day and he was standing at my car when I got there."

Eric frowned, "What did you do?"

She shot him a dark look, "I politely asked him to leave me alone. I told him again, that it was over between us and that he had to leave me alone."

Yelina glanced at Eric. "And you haven't spoken to him since?"

She shook her head, softly murmuring "No."

"Then why did he receive a two minute phone call from your home phone the day before his death?" Eric asked, pressing her.

"What?" Jeanne asked, her head shooting up to stare at Eric in disbelief. "I never rang him on Tuesday, not even in the last month. I wasn't even home much that day!" She said, her bewildered gaze flitting between the two officers.

"Can anyone confirm that?" Yelina asked.

"Yeah, my boss, Edward Masters." The woman replied, shooting the detective a deadly look. "I arrived at work just after 6:30am and stayed there I quickly went home at half past five that night. I had to freshen up because I had a business dinner with my boss and a client."

Eric glanced at Yelina; the call had occurred at 4pm. It was a good alibi, if she could prove it. "And what time did you leave for the dinner?" He asked, looking back to Jeanne.

"I left at 6 o'clock. Didn't get home until after midnight." He nodded, leafing through the papers he held before him.

"Does anyone have a key to your house besides you?" He raised his gaze to study the woman across from him. She looked startled at the switch in the tone of the conversation.

"Only Seton, from when we used to live together, and Louise."

"McKenna?" She nodded.

"Yes. I gave one to her, in case something ever happened to me, or I have to go out of town for work. You know, someone to water the plants." Eric smiled.

He picked up an evidence bag from the box next to his chair and tipped the contents out onto the table. A key chain full of keys fell loudly onto the table across from her. She flinched at the sound of the metal hitting, her gaze locked on the evidence. "Could you tell me which one it is?" Eric asked, indicating to the key chain. "If you could just point it out, that would be great. We can't allow you to actually touch the evidence," He added, as she reached out her right hand.

Jeanne studied the keys silently before pointing at a silver one at the bottom of the ring. "That one."

Eric nodded, "Thank you."

Jeanne smiled tersely before lifting her bag onto the table. She rifled through it, getting out her purse and pull out a business card. "Here are the contact details for my boss, you can reach him at any of these numbers." She slid the card across the table to Eric, who picked it up and handed it to Yelina.

Eric sighed, pausing, before continuing. "Is there any reason you can think of that some one would want to frame you for Mr Johannsen's murder?"

She gasped, shocked. "Murder? But you said that he died of high blood pressure, I don't get it." Her pale eyes fluttered quickly around, almost begging Eric to say it wasn't true.

"Some one poisoned him with a drug that had a fatal reaction to some food that he ate."

"Oh my god!" She paused, her gaze dropping to her hands. "No, no, I uh, can't think of anyone. I mean, we broke up and it was tense for a while, especially when he wouldn't stop calling and showing up wherever I was, trying to talk to me. But I didn't really mind too much, because Seton was the kind of man who lived obsessively; all or nothing, you know. I know he would eventually get over it, and stop. Louise had more of problem with it than I did." She said, her voice revealing her distress.

Eric shot a knowing look to Yelina. "Would she have any reason to kill him?" He asked the woman across from him, who was pulling at her sleeves more frequently now.

"Louise, god no! She couldn't hurt anyone." Jeanne met Eric's eyes. He was surprised to see them shining gently.

"Alright, thank you for your time Ms Romany. But before you go, we need to take your fingerprints." He said hesitantly. The last thing he really wanted to do was make the poor woman feel persecuted, but he had to do his job.

"What? I thought that you only did that to criminals! I didn't do anything!" She said, angrily.

"I know but we just need to rule you out, Alright?"

She dropped her head in defeat. After a moment's silence, she nodded. "Fine." Eric shot her a grateful, unseen smile before pulling out some gloves and the Fingerprinting kit.

* * *

Calleigh hummed quietly to herself. She was trying to distract her mind from the water that was slowly getting deeper and deeper beneath her. It was edging its way up her body, as she continued to probe around for the much sought-after Beretta.

Huge floodlights now illuminated her path, as the rangers behind her were getting restless. A few were playing cards on the airboat as one kept watch for gators.

"I hope one of you boys is spotting me," she called out over her shoulder. The uniformed officer holding the rifle smiled gently.

"Are you sure you don't want to give it up for tonight Officer Duquesne?" He called back through the air. "It's getting cold and I'm sure Lieutenant Caine is going to be after me if you catch a chill."

Calleigh smiled, her back hiding the blushing grin. "You and me both," she called back, smiling. As she heard him laugh, she felt her metal pole hit a metallic object on the floor of the Glades.

"Got something," she called out, tapping her pole against the same object, verifying the find to herself again.

The airboat slowly made it's way over to her as she quickly calculated in her head how deep the water was here. It was almost up to her waist, meaning if she wanted to get the `find' she would probably going to have to get a little wet.

"Hey guys," she called out again, glancing back to the men on the airboat, who were less can three feet from her. "Anyone got a drag net?" She said, cocking an eyebrow at the uniforms.

* * *

"We'll probably need to talk to you again before all this is over." Eric stood with Jeanne at the door to interrogation.

She was hastily wiping her fingertips with the towel that Eric had given her. "Sure, no problem." she replied, a terse look edging her face.

"Thank you for coming in, Ms Romany." Eric said politely, giving her a small smile. She nodded at him before readjusting her bag on her shoulder.

She glanced at Yelina, sending her a quiet "Detective," before the uniformed officer escorted her out, leaving the couple standing there.

Yelina crossed her hands across her chest, moving her head to toss her hair behind her shoulder. "Mrs McKenna is looking more and more like the murderer." She said, sighing.

"If I clear Ms Romany's fingerprints, then yeah." Eric replied, crossing back to the table and packing up the kit. He lifted the evidence box back onto the desk and deposited everything back in there. "You know, I never could figure out why, if this was about the ex-girlfriend, he died on the best friend's door step. Maybe, by dying there, he was telling us who killed him." He finished, turning back to Yelina, his dark brow furrowed.

"But why would the McKenna's kill him? He was already out of their lives." She said, moving her hands to her hips, as she moved to perch herself on the end of the table.

"No, he wasn't." Eric shot back, "All the phone calls and surprise visits, harassing them about Jeanne. Maybe they wanted to get rid of him for good." he finished, picking up the box onto his hip. He sighed, smiling quickly at the detective. "Right, well, I'm going to finally get around to those medical records." He said, moving to the door.

"I'll check out Ms Romany's alibi. See if she really was dining with her business client. As well as the McKenna's whereabouts for the day the victim died."

Eric nodded, stopping at the door to turn back to her. "Good idea, ring me when you find out. Thanks Yelina." He said, walking out, and pulling out his cell phone with one hand.

Walking through the police department, he dialled, "Hey Jo, it's Eric. Have you got anything more from the phone records?" He paused as she replied. "Really, where from? Did you get a GPS location? Great," he stopped, pinning his phone against his shoulder and pulled out a pen from his pocket. He hastily scribbled the details on the top of the box before shoving the pen into it. "And that's the cell phone number it came from? Good, thanks Jo." He said, taking his phone in his free hand. "I'll come and get the rest off you later. Don't work too hard. Yeah, bye." As he hung up, he rounded the corner towards CSI.

He dialled another number, readjusting the box under his arm again. "Hey Tyler, Eric. Can you run a trace some calls for me? Okay, cell phone is registered to a Mrs Louise McKenna. Great. See you Tyler," As he glanced down to close his phone, he almost took out Speed, who was heading towards Interrogation.

"Hey, watch it Eric." Speed said, grabbing Eric's arms to regain his balance.

"Sorry man," Eric muttered before keeping on his path out of the Police Station.

Speed watched his friend walk out, juggling the box. He sighed before heading to where Eric came from.

He stopped at the window, pausing to watch Tripp and Horatio work over their suspect.

Scott Hamill was sitting at the table in the centre of the room. Tripp had taken the lead, sitting opposite him, his face an impenetrable mask of cold stone as he questioned the man.

Horatio was standing quietly behind Mr Hamill, burning a laser hole in the back of his skull. The cold blue stare was slowly unnerving their suspect, who was fidgeting with his fingers.

"So, Scott," Tripp said with an callous tone, "You are telling me that the last time you saw Ms Lee alive was when she headed out the back of the nightclub towards the restrooms."

The man nodded smugly. "Yeah, that's right. When she didn't come back after a while, I just picked up with another girl. Left about an hour later."

"What was her name?" Tripp asked, sitting back on the chair.

"Who?" Scott asked, feigning stupidity.

"The girl, dipshit. We'll need to talk to her to verify that." The detective shot back, glaring.

"Didn't catch it. That wasn't what I was interested in, you know what I mean." Scott said, a large grin on his face as he glanced around to H quickly.

"Strange, because we didn't catch her either." Frank said, leaning forward. He opened the file in front of him and threw a series of security stills in front of the man. "We saw Rebecca, and we saw you following her out the back. And funny enough, we didn't see either of you walk back in, and we definitely didn't see you getting it on with any girl. Now, I'm thinking, either you have the amazing talent of making yourself invisible or," Frank paused, leaning in, "you're lying. I'm inclined to believe the latter. And considering you conveniently didn't get her name, you are without a witness. It's not looking good, Scott." He finished, glancing across to Horatio, who was still concentrated on Scott.

In the moment of silence, Hamill studied the photos, showing Kate O'Garr walk out to the back, Rebecca following not long after, and finally, him, third in tow. "This is crap. You fabricated this. You cops couldn't find shit."

"We found you, didn't we?" The Texan detective was quickly getting aggravated with the arrogant soldier, "and now, we have a warrant for your DNA, which is going to bury you up to your shoulders in it." Frank sent Hamill a dark smile, before leaning back on his chair again.

The suspect looked up from the photos, his dark brows shadowing his eyes, giving him an ominous look. "You can't get me for this." He said, his voice edged with hate.

"We already have you," Frank said, as Speed then to enter the room, folder and kit in hand.

In a deafening silence, the criminalist placed his things on the desk next to Tripp, shooting a quick look from H to the detective as he pulled on his latex gloves before picking up the swab. He walked over to Scott Hamill as Frank slid the warrant over the table.

"This says you have to open wide sunshine." The detective said mockingly as Scott eyed Speed. The soldier glared as Speed reached over and held out the swab, waiting for him to open his mouth.

"If I were you, Mr Hamill, I would let him take that swab. Or we will be inclined to get your DNA any way we feel like." Horatio's voice cut through the tension, the threatening tone causing Scott to turn around to face him. H was still staring him down, his crystalline eyes cutting at Scott, daring him to try and defy him.

Hamill met H's stare momentarily before moving back to face Speed and opening his mouth, letting his voice drop into a mocking "Ahhhhhh".

Speed cautiously swabbed the man's cheek, meeting the challenging eyes of the soldier before pulling back and boxing the specimen. He nodded quickly at Tripp and H, before sliding the folder across and table and walking out.

Tripp opened it, reading it before glancing over to H. "Caine," He said, catching Horatio's attention. Horatio reluctantly looked to Tripp, to stood up and walked over and handed H the results.

"Mr Hamill," Horatio said after a moment, "it seems that you had a little accident. Can you explain this?" He said, handing the folder back to Tripp who walked over and placed the pictures in front of the suspect.

"What is it?" the soldier asked, studying the photos quickly, before looking up to the officers.

"We found evidence of human blood in your dingy. How did it get there?" Horatio asked, moving his hands to his hips and centring his weight on his feet.

"That's my blood. I cut my hand three days ago, when I was trying to gut the fish I had caught."

"Funny," H said, "I didn't know you were a woman."

Scott Hamill's angry gaze shot up to Horatio, glowering at the criminalist.

"I'm not," he said shortly.

"That's strange," H said, walking slowly over to stand at the table next to Hamill, "because our tests show that the blood contained high levels of synthetic oestrogen, so unless you are transgender or on the pill, that isn't your blood." He said warningly into Hamill's face, leaning right into the suspect.

"But that's your problem isn't it?" He continued, his voice dropping menacingly, "you couldn't take it that you can't pick up a real woman; all you can manage was a fake one, one in disguise. You couldn't take it that you failed as a man."

Scott was flinching, struggling to contain himself as Horatio continued to taunt him, tearing strips off him with his piercing eyes. H pulled back to face the window, dismissing the soldier.

"I did not!" Scott said loudly, as Tripp's eyes flitted between them, watching the power play. "I did not fail as a man. She deceived me, she lied to me, so I had to get her back."

"So you killed her and her ex-girlfriend." Tripp interjected.

"No, I didn't kill anyone." Hamill said, moving his eyes back to the detective opposite him.

"That's not what your hand says," Horatio said, not moving his gaze from out the window.

"My hand?" Hamill said, pulling his sleeves over his hands conspicuously.

"Hold out your left hand, Mr Hamill." Horatio said, turning back around to him. Scott didn't move, his eyes meeting Horatio's defiantly. "Hold it out, or I will make you," H threatened again, turning around and walking over to the table.

Reluctantly Hamill held out his hand, palm down to the table.

"Turn it over," Horatio said, stepping closer to the man. Slowly he turned it over, revealing a dark orange stain on his palm, with patches missing on the inside of his hand.

"That's where she grabbed you, begging you to stop, pulling against the gun for her life." Horatio said, leaning across the table, bracing his arms on it to stop himself.

Everyone one of his words was dripping with hatred, boring into the suspect with latent promise. Scott paused, before distorting his face into an ominous grin.

"You can't pin me for them both. You've got me for the tranny, but you'll never get me for the other girl."

In jest, he crossed his hands behind his head, challenging the criminalist.

"Watch me," Horatio said darkly, before pulling back and exiting the room. Tripp watched the CSI's directed steps cross the station and out of his view.


	6. Chapter Six

"... In taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy; but in passing it over, he is superior ..." (Sir Francis Bacon)

* * *

Stalking through the lab, Horatio was incensed. He had let Hamill goad him, and what was more infuriating; he knew that Hamill was right.

They had nothing on him for the murder of Kate O'Garr. They could get him for Rebecca, but so far, there was nothing to point to closure for Kate's family. The Lee's would have their pound of flesh, but not for their daughter's ex-lover, who was also close to their heart.

Making his way around the corner towards DNA, he caught some of the lab techs staring at him. "Speed," He called out as he saw the dark haired man emerge from the glass lab.

"Hey H," he replied, waiting for his supervisor to catch up with him.

"Have you processed the buccal swab yet?" H asked, placing his hands on his hips.

"Valera is doing it as we speak, but it'll be a while before we get the results." He replied, sensing the urgency in Horatio.

"Alright, have you done verified all the evidence from the Glades yet?" Speed nodded, as he fiddled with the folder in his hands.

"I'm just waiting for Calleigh to come back to see where we are now." Horatio frowned, shifting slightly.

"Didn't she come back with you?" He asked, dropped his head to the side, fixing his eyes on Speed. Tim glanced to the ground.

"She stayed behind at the scene to drag the area for the gun. We didn't find it in the boat; Calleigh thought that he might have dumped the weapon in the water when we got there. So, she was going to search for it."

Horatio sighed, "How long has it been since she contacted you?"

Speed shifted nervously, "I haven't talked to her since she drove away on the airboat to head back to the scene." Horatio shifted his gaze to the ground, Speed watching him carefully.

"Okay, try and contact Calleigh, see where she is. Then I need you to go through all the evidence from the alley scene, I need evidence that confirms whether or not Hamill killed Kate O'Garr."

"The ex-girlfriend?" Speed verified as Horatio nodded. "What are you going to do?" He asked, as Horatio moved off.

"I'm going to talk to Alexx about the autopsy reports. Ring me when you get through the Calleigh," he called behind him as he headed towards the elevator.

"Sure H," Speed replied, before moving off towards the layout room.

Horatio walked past the reception desk to the elevator, pressing the down button impatiently. As he stood at the door, he kept his gaze on the ground, trying to organise his thoughts quickly.

As the elevator dinged, he pulled his gaze up to see a dripping Calleigh Duquesne standing there, holding two gun boxes in one hand and holding her cell phone to her ear with the other, "Don't worry Tim, found him." She smiled, closing her phone and tucking it back into her jacket.

He stared at her, cocking a bemused and bewildered eyebrow. "Don't say a word Horatio. I am in serious need of a shower and a tetanus shot. Lord knows what's in that water!" She said moving out of the elevator to stand next to him.

Her hair was matted into the bun at the back of her neck, which was dripping water down the back of her shirt. She had a forensics jacket on, over her wet clothes, and was considerably shorter without her boots on. "But the good news is, I have found the Beretta, and a rifle. So, if we don't get him on both the murders, we can tack on possession an unregistered firearm." She said smiling. Horatio softly returned her smile.

"Happy hunting?" He asked, his whole demeanour having softened with her arrival.

"You bet handsome," she replied, "Two for one, though I could have done without the impromptu swim." He chuckled softly as she smoothed a spare hand over her hair. "Never again Horatio. Next time, Eric can go. I am done with swimming in the sloughs."

"Not for the fainthearted," He shot back, ducking his gaze.

"Definitely. It's even worse when every little noise in the dark leaves you with premonitions of death." Horatio smiled gently at her comments, looking back up to meet her eyes.

"Well done Calleigh." He said softly.

"Thank you," she said, blushing softly. She sighed before shifting the guns in her grip. "How did it go with Hamill?" She asked, seeing the troubled look in Horatio.

"He didn't confess, but the iron deposit on the inside of his hand says it all."

"But," she said, as Horatio glanced away. He paused a minute, considering the next sentence. "He got to you, didn't he?" She said, her head dropping to the side to consider Horatio. Her blue eyes sought his out, something, which was a little harder without the extra inches to her height.

He smiled wryly before meet her questioning gaze. "What did he say?" Calleigh asked, continuing to press him.

"You're dripping on the floor," he murmured softly, not quite ready to answer.

"I don't care Horatio. What did he say?" She said firmly, tucking the rifle against her hip and placing her free hand on the other one. She stood resolute, regarding him with inquiring eyes.

"He said that we can't pin the second murder on him. With the evidence we have, we can only charge him for the murder of Rebecca Lee, not both her and Kate."

"And you want him for the double?" She asked, softening slightly. "What if the evidence points away from him Horatio?" H frowned momentarily at her question before squaring his gaze.

"I know he did it. And I know we have the evidence to prove it." She smiled.

"Then go get him." Calleigh touched his arm gently before turning away towards her beloved lab, her arms clutching her new toys.

Horatio smiled softly as he followed her path, laughter colouring his eyes at the appearance of Calleigh sized wet footprints marking the way towards Ballistics. He pressed the elevator button again, which had long since moved on during his conversation. He turned back to reception to spot the woman standing there.

"Claudia," he called out. She turned from her work to face him,

"Yes Lieutenant," she replied, smiling softly.

"Could you please call clean-up to come to Reception? Tell them we had a water spill." He turned as the elevator opened and he made his way towards the morgue.

* * *

Sunday morning dawned brightly, as Eric made his way towards a small café/restaurant downtown. He pulled the Hummer around the corner, sighing.

His mother had called him the night before, just as he had arrived home from the lab, to admonish him for not visiting. Granted it had only been a week since he last had dinner with his family, and as the only son, he had been expected to be there.

But as per usual, a murder had prevented him from being there. And now, here he was, on the day that God had off, working hard on the case.

He parked the Hummer across the road from the café, and got out, bringing a folder with him. Crossing the road, he made his way to the door of the coffee house, pulling off his sunglasses and made his way towards the counter. "Good morning sir, how may I help you?"

The waitress asked, smiling brightly at him. "Hello, I'm Eric Delko from the Miami Dade Crime Lab, may I please speak with your manager?" He flashed his badge and a tired smile.

She stood shocked for a moment before blinked and recovering with a tense grin. "Sure, I'll just be a minute." She replied before turning on her heel and walking away.

Another waitress nervously walked up and manned the counter. "May I get you anything while you wait?" The small blonde asked, fiddling nervously with her pen.

"I would love a coffee, thank you." He said, smiling. The girl took his order with a soft smile and walked off to make it.

Just as she came back with his drink the manager, an older woman made her way towards him with the original serving girl. "Hello, I am Hilary McCullum, I own this café. How may I help you Officer?"

The professional woman extended her well-manicured hand. Eric shook her hand before glancing down to his file. "I'm from the Crime Lab. I am investigating a murder, in which the victim made a phone call from this café the day he died. Do you recognise this man? He would have been here about Wednesday afternoon." He held out a photo of Mr Johannsen, as he appeared in the morgue.

"Oh my god," the woman paused, her hand flying up to cover her mouth, "No, I wasn't working then, but Melissa," she called out to the waitress who had made Eric's coffee. "Would you please come over here for a minute?" The young blonde made her way over to the manager. "You worked Wednesday afternoon, didn't you?"

The girl nodded nervously, "Yeah, I worked restaurant."

Eric held out the photo, "Notice this guy, and who he was with?" He asked Melissa.

She studied the photo quickly before nodding. "Sure yeah, he came in by himself. This woman was already sitting down over there, waiting for him." She pointed over to the front window of the restaurant.

"Can you describe the woman?" He asked, leafing quickly through the file.

"Sure, yeah. She was dark haired, rich looking with a really expensive bag. She paid with a gold credit card." He nodded, pulling out another photo.

"This her?" The girl nodded.

"Yep definitely."

"Do you remember what they ordered?"

Melissa frowned, "Hang on," she said, pulling out her receipt book and flicking through it. "A Caesar Salad minus bacon, a green salad with a side order of fruit, one orange juice, one skinny café latte." She reeled off the order, before looking back up at Eric. He glanced around to the ceiling, turning back to the manager.

"Do you have security cameras here?"

Hilary nodded, "Of course, in case we ever get held up. Why?"

"Is there any facing in that direction of where they sat?" She glanced around before shaking her head.

"I am not sure, I can't remember which way we faced them. I'm sorry," she said contritely.

Eric shook his head, "It's alright. But I am going to have to take the footage from Wednesday afternoon, if that's alright?"

The manager nodded, "Sure, anything to help."

"If you could just show me where you keep the tapes," Hilary turned and motioned for Eric to follow her.

Minutes later, he walked out of the café with the tapes, Melissa's receipt book and his much-needed caffeine.

* * *

Calleigh stood in the ballistics lab, priming the Beretta for test firing. Loading the gun, she placed on the earmuffs and fired twice into the water chest. Sighing happily, she pulled off the protective gear and walked over to the side of the metal barrel.

Lifting the lid, she picked up the magnetised rod and extracted the two bullets. She headed back to her table, where the comparison microscope sat waiting for her. Just as she went to place the exemplar into the view, she heard a voice from the door. "I would have thought that after your adventures yesterday, you would have wanted to avoid water."

She turned and smiled at Horatio who was leaning against the doorjamb. "Well, I did have a shower or two, I needed to clean myself up. And I have to determine whether or not this was the gun that killed our girls, so sadly, avoidance was not an option."

She placed the bullets under the scope, and focussed the new one into line with the one taken from Kate. "Got it," she said, turning to H with a large grin on her face. He walked over the table, as Calleigh stepped back to let him take a look. He bent down, studying the specimens, Calleigh watching him intently with a small smile on her face.

He stood back up, anxiety still clouding his features. "Which bullet is this?"

"The one Alexx pulled from Kate O'Garr," she said, with grin.

"Have you tested the one from Rebecca?"

Calleigh shook her head, "It impacted when it ricocheted around in her skull, no such luck. Although I can match the firing pin impressions on the casings we found at the scene." Horatio nodded, glancing down at the microscope before looking back up to Calleigh.

"Thank you, call me when you have the results. I'll see you later," He said before moving away.

"No problems handsome." She called out to his retreating form.

Shifting through the mountain of results in front of him, Speed turned back to pin up the crime scene photos from the initial crime scene. He walked back to the table and started to pull the larger evidence pieces out of their envelopes.

Out came the victims' clothing, complete with trace reports, the broken glass from the scene, all of the DNA evidence taken throughout the case, the security tapes from the nightclub and every piece of paperwork they had amassed throughout the last week. Stopping to look over the whole case spread out in front of him, Tim sighed, running a hand over his face.

Shaking his head softly, he picked up the trace file, rummaging through it to match the evidence to the report. Turning around, he became illuminated by the large pictures in front of him, the light board projecting their shadows onto the room.

Standing at the door, Horatio watched Speed, as the younger man sighed dejectedly, his quick eyes scanning the photos for any missed clues. "Speed," H said, startling him out of his thoughts.

"Hey H," he replied, turning back to the table and facing his supervisor.

"What have we got?" Horatio asked, moving forward to stand opposite Speed.

"I've checked all the reports, double checked the trace. The oily smudge that Alexx found on Kate's hand was make-up, matched to the samples we took from Rebecca. The DNA isn't back from Valera yet, so we can't match the saliva to Hamill and the broken glass found in Rebecca Lee's wounds match the glass from the nightclub, density grading test confirms that."

"Okay, is there anything else?" H asked, placing his hands on his hips with a slight frown.

"I'm beginning to think that he's right, Hamill." Speed said, dropping his gaze quickly, "We have nothing on him." He pulled his gaze back up to Horatio, who was staring at the table. "Sorry H," Speed shot off, compelled to apologise by the silence. Horatio shook his head, his steady blue eyes meeting Speed's troubled, dark ones.

"It's fine, just take a minute and then you can take another look at these pictures with me, alright?" Speed dropped his eyes to the table as H moved around to stand next to him.

Studying the light board, Horatio waited patiently as his colleague sighed deeply before turning around to join him. They stood in silence as each carefully examined the scene, as captured by the camera. Analysing them with their eyes, they saw the bullet casings, the body positions, the blood splatter patterns against the dark ground and pale chest of Kate O'Garr, and dark stippling on the mocha coloured temple of Rebecca Lee.

Horatio shifted, as Speed tucked his hands into his lab coat pockets. "Did we find any G.S.R on the victims?" Horatio asked, glancing quickly at Speed. The younger man turned around to sift his way through the mass of files on the table to pick up the autopsy and trace reports.

"Gun shot residue was found on the left hand, head and shoulders of Rebecca Lee, and trace amounts were found on the blouse of Kate O'Garr. That's it. Why?" He turned to Horatio.

"Rebecca used her left hand to try and pry the gun away from her head. If she was right-handed and she shot her ex-girlfriend, then she would have residue on both hands. Call her parents, ask them to confirm whether or not she was left handed," Speed nodded, before pulling out his cell phone and moving away. As H was continuing to study the photos, there was a small knock from the door.

"Lieutenant?" H turned around to see Valera standing at the door holding a folder. H raised in eyebrows in reply, as he eyed the folder anxiously.

"Are they the results from the buccal swab?" He asked as the technician made her way over to him. Valera nodded, smiling quickly at him as she handed over the report.

He opened the file and scanned quickly down the page, "Sample matches all the others from the scene. The fingernail scraping, hair and saliva are all from your suspect, Scott Hamill. The blood that Speed found in the boat was Rebecca Lee's." She glanced up to Horatio, who was nodding softly.

"Thank you," He said, smiling gently at her. She nodded at him, and then Speed before turning and heading back to the DNA lab.

Tim walked back to stand next to Horatio, "Parent's confirmed that Rebecca was right handed. Is that enough to get him for killing them both?" He said, studying Horatio as his supervisor was caught deep in thought. H broke out of his silence at Speed's question, turning his gaze back to the younger criminalist.

"I think it's time that we had another chat with our Mr Hamill. But for the moment, I need you to go back to the security footage. Check every frame, there is something we are missing."

Speed sighed, "Alright, but I don't know what else he could be hiding there." He turned and headed out of the room, shrugging off his lab coat as he went and pulling out his cell phone.

Horatio stayed, studying the photos carefully, trying not to let the taunting words of their suspect distract him too far from his quest.

* * *

Jo sat curled up on the hospital bed, her legs folded neatly beneath her. Tucked into herself, she was flicking through the television stations impatiently.

Eric walked up the doorway, watching her for a moment before knocking. "Hi, am I interrupting anything?" He said, tapping his knuckles on the open door. Jo turned around, seemingly surprised to see him standing there.

"Oh hi Delko. Sure, come in." She said, waving him in. She had changed into her own pyjamas within the last two days (Alexx had gone around to her motel room the night of her hospitalisation and collected a few of her things for her). He also noticed that there was a box sitting on the table next to the bed.

"How's it going?" Eric asked, moving to stand next to the bed.

"Alright, they said they'll let me out soon, tomorrow morning at the latest." Jo replied with a look of impatient distaste on her face.

"You really don't like hospitals do you?" He said, smiling.

"They're not my most favourite place in the world to be." Jo replied, her smile falling momentarily before she quickly changed subjects. "So, did you check out that café?"

He smiled, waving a folder before pulling it open and handing her a photo. "One of the waitresses positively identified her. Said that she was there with our victim the afternoon he died. Even gave me a receipt of what they ordered."

"So, you got her?" She said, looking up at Eric.

"Not quite yet. I haven't got all the evidence together, but it looks like she did it. I've got to study the security footage, just to determine when she slipped him the drug, otherwise yeah. She killed him." He said as she handed him back the photo.

She nodded, smiling, "Well done."

Eric ducked his head, "We haven't got her yet."

"Yet," She shot back. Eric smiled, before glancing quickly around the room. He settled his dark gaze on the colourful box sitting on her bedside table.

"So, who's the box from?" he asked, smiling softly.

She shrugged, "I don't know, it was sitting there when I woke up. Can you get the card for me?" Jo asked, turning off the television and shifting to sit cross-legged.

Eric shot her a suspicious look at her before walking over and picking up the card. Opening it, his eyes quickly flittered over the words before coming up quickly to meet hers. `Eric, thank you, Jo.'

"Open it," she said softly, her voice tinged with nervous excitement. He turned to lift the top of the box off, frowning at what his eyes saw inside. He turned back to her, bewildered.

"Beer?" He asked, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion and amusement.

She smiled faintly, dropping her gaze to the bed, clearing her throat gently. "I had this tutor, at university back home, who had this, sort of rule in class. If ever our pagers went off whilst he was talking, because of the disrespect that it caused, whoever's phone it was, owed him a case of beer. Consider this a token of my extreme respect, gratitude and most sincerest of apologies for what I did, or didn't do as the case may be."

She glanced back up at him, a small, earnest look on her face. He stayed silent, not quite sure what to say. She smiled, a small dismissing laugh escaping her. "You don't have to drink it all, but please, accept it. Hell, if you don't want it, just hand it to nearest bum you find, or throw a party or whatever, but please Eric, I would be so grateful if you would accept it."

She sighed out deeply, her fingers fiddling nervously with her pyjama sleeve. Eric glanced down before looking back to her, nodding.

"Thank you Jo," he replied smiling gently at her. He turned his attention back to his present, frowning slightly. "Hey, how did you get this up here? Wouldn't they confiscate it?"

Jo smiled, "I bribed Jennifer, the nurse that you saw here yesterday. She brought it up this morning." Eric laughed, his eyes smiling for the first time all week. They lapsed into silence for a moment before Eric cleared his throat gently.

"Well, I had better get going. I've got to finalize the evidence before getting Yelina to order a warrant for her arrest."

She nodded, "Anything I can do to help?"

Eric nodded, "Yeah, can you call Tyler for me, he's the A/V technician at the lab. Ask him about the trace on the cell phone I asked him for, and then check it against the victim's phone records, alright?"

Jo smiled, "No problem."

"Alright, then I'll see you later then. Take care of yourself," Eric said, moving to the table and picking up his `gift'. "This is strange," he commented as he made his way back to the door.

"What?" Jo asked in confusion.

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone leave the hospital with a gift, without them having been a patient." She smiled, laughing softly.

"Lucky you, Delko. See you later. Good luck," she called out as he nodded and headed out the door.

"Bye Jo," he called back over his shoulder as he made his way down the hall, his brightly wrapped box tucked under one arm.

* * *

Shutting the door loudly behind him, Horatio walked over to the interrogation room table and placed a folder down in front of Scott Hamill.

The soldier was sitting back in the metal chair, his feet propped up on the edge of the table. Tripp was standing on the opposite wall, his hands crossed against his chest.

The midday sun was shining brightly through the windows, causing Hamill to squint softly. "Any chance you guys have any blinds to shut out some of the light in here?" He said, glancing between the two officers.

"Sorry, you don't get to make demands here," Tripp said darkly, standing across from the man.

"What happens to my civil rights?" Hamill shot back, crossing his arms across his chest.

"What makes you think you have any?" Horatio replied, his voice dropping dangerously.

His azure eyes penetrated the soldier's, causing them to engage in a battle of wills, each as defiant and accusing as the other. Tripp watched them, waiting on edge. After a tense silence, Tripp cleared his throat.

"Is there anything that you would like to say in regards to your statement Mr Hamill?"

"What statement is that, Detective?" Scott replied dismissively.

"The statement you made about your involvement in the deaths of Rebecca Lee and Kate O'Garr at the Beatbox nightclub on Monday night." Tripp replied.

"Oh, that." Hamill said sarcastically. Tripp nodded, taking a few steps towards the table and the two warring men.

"Yeah that. You told Lieutenant Caine and myself that you watched Ms Lee follow her ex-girlfriend out back, that you sure as hell didn't follow her, and later, you didn't see either woman re-enter the club, right?" The man nodded at Tripp's summary. "Then, minutes later, you all but told us that you killed Rebecca Lee, but that we couldn't pin the other murder on you. So if you didn't kill Ms O'Garr, Scott," the name was spat out, loaded with sarcasm and hate, "Who did?"

Hamill shrugged dismissively, his mouth pulling into a nasty smirk. "Beats me, could have been any fucker that was out there that night. I'm pretty sure I saw a homeless man sitting there, eyeing her purse. But she was already dead when I got out back. So, maybe the tranny killed her. Shot her because she didn't take to her new identity too well."

"What did she shoot her with? We didn't find any gun on her." Horatio said, moving to perch on the edge of the table.

"I don't know, maybe she stashed it somewhere under her dress, or threw it in a trashcan before I got out there." Scott shrugged again, shifting slightly to readjust his position on the chair.

"This is where we have a difference of opinion, because there is no evidence of another gun at the scene, or at the victim's house, or anywhere."

"Can you turn guns invisible now as well?" Tripp asked, stepping in next to Horatio. Hamill paused, his mouth twisting into a tight thin line; his serious, threatening eyes jumping anxiously between the two officers. His eyes narrowed, as he shook his head in silence.

"We retrieved the bullets from Kate's chest, and Rebecca's skull. See, you weren't smart enough to remove the casings from the alley when you shot them both. We can match the casings to the gun, confirming that they were shot from the same weapon. Don't they teach you that in the army?" Horatio mocked, leaning in closer to the soldier, who was staring back at him with a dark look.

In the silence, they all stood, engaged in a tense face off. All of a sudden, Horatio's cell phone vibrated against his chest, shaking happily in his breast pocket.

Shooting Hamill a final dark look, he walked over to the window, to see that he had received a message from Calleigh, simply stating, `Casings Match Beretta'.

Horatio smiled gently before placing his phone back in his pocket and staring out the window. "Well, Mr Hamill, it looks like it's not your day. My ballistics expert just determined that both victims' were shot with your gun. Can you tell me how or is that just another thing you don't know?" He turned to pin the man to the table with his eyes, his hands moving to his hips.

"Rebecca Lee didn't shoot the other woman, you did. Ms Lee didn't touch the gun except to try and prevent you from blowing out her head; gun shot residue proves that. You see, Ms Lee was right handed. Had she planned to and then shot Kate O'Garr, she would have used her dominant hand. The problem is, we didn't find any residue on her right hand; only on her left, where she tried to pry her life from out of your sick hands."

"And at one point, you even licked her, violating her chest with your saliva. Which you then spat at Kate O'Garr," Horatio said, opening the file in front of him. He walked around the table to stand next to Hamill before throwing a photo of Kate O'Garr down in front of him.

"Why did you kill her Scott?" H said darkly, leaning right into the man's personal space. "Was it because, even after you took the time to know her, all that time and money you spent on emailing Rebecca Lee, all the hours spent spilling your heart to her," He bent down to speak tauntingly at soldier's face, "she still loved a woman more than you?"

Scott growled threateningly, but Horatio didn't move from his position. His clear eyes stared menacingly at the soldier, slowly tearing his resistance away under his study.

"It wasn't like that," the soldier replied solemnly, his voice laced with anger.

"Then what?" Horatio threw back at him, standing up and pushing Hamill's feet on the table. He leant over and pulled out another photo. "You didn't like that a beautiful woman like her," H held Rebecca's autopsy photo to Hamill's face, forcing the man to take in the dark beauty's mutilated skull, a dark, stencilled hole outlining where he had taken her life. "Blew you- an upstanding, good-looking, All American soldier- off to get with her former love. A woman. Imagine what all your little Army buddies would have to say about that?" Horatio continued, leaning in again. "About you getting it on with another man. Technically she wasn't, but to you, she was everything you hate."

"Rebecca Lee lied to you, she hid her little secret. But you see; she was starting her new life, a life she was finally happy with. And you took all that away from her. You overheard her tell Kate who she was, who she used to be, so you killed her one true love in front of her eyes." Tripp watched as Horatio's voice dropped to a frightening low tone. "And then, you took hers."

Horatio pulled back to study the soldier, who was shaking with rage, his face pulled into a gruesome scowl. "As I was trained to do." He turned to Horatio and muttered slowly.

"But all that training, didn't feel half as good as it was to hear the ex choking in her own blood. To see the tranny scream and beg and cry for her life." Hamill shook his head smiling, "there's nothing like killing the enemy." He turned to fix his eyes on Horatio.

"Yes there is. There's nothing like putting scum like you away for life. Knowing Scott," Horatio spat out, "that you will spent the rest of your days rotting in a dark little room with nothing but the stench of your own urine to keep you company. There is nothing like that." He finished, his eyes and voice frightening dark.

He pulled back, glanced quickly at Tripp, who was watching him with mild shock. "Book him." He said as he pulled out his sunglasses and made his way out of the interrogation room.

Head down, Horatio walked through the door and down the halls of the Police Department, failing to see Calleigh standing there, at the window of Interrogation. She had been there, watching, the whole time. As her troubled eyes followed his path away from the room, and her, she sighed deeply. "Oh, Horatio."

* * *

The yellow crime scene tape had long since been moved from the porch, Eric noticed as he walked up the front path of the McKenna residence.

Walking to his left, Yelina was talking softly on her cell phone. "Thank you for your time Mr McKenna, I will be sure to talk to you later. Goodbye." She clicked off her cell phone, placing it back on her belt. "He says that there was a visitor on Wednesday night. Louise told him it was a wrong address for a delivery." Eric nodded as they walked up the now clean steps and knocked on the door.

"And neither of them told you about that when you questioned them?" He asked. Yelina shook her head, smiling at his comment, as they waited for someone to answer the door. Eric sighed, impatient.

Yelina leant forward and knocked again, "Ms McKenna, Miami Dade Police, please open the door." She called out, glancing behind to the officers behind her. "Go around the back and check the back door for me." The young man nodded, obeying his superior and walking off the porch. Yelina knocked again, annoyed by the silence.

Suddenly, Louise McKenna opened the door with a flourish, puffing slightly. She was dressed in gym clothes, and was glistening with sweat. Both Eric and Yelina paused, staring at her in silence.

"Hello officers, nice to see you again, what can I do for you?" She said, placing one hand on her hip and leaning against the door.

"Ms McKenna, did you know it was an offence to not open the door to the police?" Yelina said, cocking an irritated eyebrow at the woman.

"Oh, I am so sorry, I was listening to the radio whilst running on my treadmill. I honestly didn't hear you." She smiled contritely at the two, pushing a few invisible strands of hair off her forehead.

"Can we come in?" Eric asked, gesturing inside with his arm. The woman nodded, opening the door wider.

"Sure, don't mind the mess, my maid has the day off," Louise said, escorting Eric and Yelina, followed by a uniform through the hall, and into the lounge. They glanced around the new spotless house, bewildered at the woman's description of `mess', before they both sat down on the lounge. Eric shot a bemused look at Yelina before turning to the woman opposite them, who was gently towelling the sweat from her chest.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure Officers?" she said, picking up her water bottle from the table and sitting down on the seat across from him.

"I have a few questions I wanted to ask you in regards to Seton Johannsen's death." Eric replied.

She nodded, crossing her legs casually. "Yes, Jeanne called me this morning, told me of your talk with her last night. So I can't say I am surprised at your being here." Eric shot Yelina a worried glance, before clearing his throat and placing the folder he was holding on the coffee table in front of them.

"Ms McKenna, when was the last time you met with Mr Johannsen?" Eric asked, looking down to snap open his field kit. Yelina watched Louise as she paused, nervously glancing between the two.

"I don't remember. I've been so busy recently that I can hardly keep track of all the appointments I have."

"That's strange, because we know that five days ago, on the afternoon of Mr Johannsen's death, you met with him at the Versailles Restaurant on South West 8th Street."

Eric opened the file and threw the security photo's down in front of her. The older woman regarded the incriminating photo with mild disinterest, feigning ignorance. "I had lunch with Seton, yes."

"Why? From what we can gather, you didn't like the guy," Eric commented, studying the photo.

"I met up with him in the vain effort of trying to leave Jeanne and us alone. I was sick of him interfering in our lives." She crossed her arms across her body, defensive.

"So, when was it that you sent him the threatening letters?" Yelina asked, keeping her eyes on the floundering woman across from her.

Louise McKenna shook her head, "How did you?" She trailed off, momentarily shocked. Eric placed another photo in front of the woman, this time, it showed the letter he had found, printed and marked as evidence.

Louise picked up the picture, quickly considering it before throwing back down on the table. "Those silly things, they were just a joke. I never meant any harm." She kept her eyes on Eric and Yelina, as she squared her jaw defiantly.

"Then why did you send them?" Yelina asked, as Eric pulled out his latex clubs and pulled them on. Ms McKenna eyed his practices before looking back to the detective.

"He wouldn't listen. Jason kept asking and begging and arguing with him about Jeanne. Telling him that we wanted him to leave us alone, that both none of us wanted anything more to do with him. But he kept persisting, so I sent him the letters."

Yelina shot Delko a disbelieving look before reaching inside her jacket and pulling out a warrant. "We have a warrant to search your premises for any prescription medications. Officer Delko will conduct the search, feel free to call your lawyer." She handed the woman the papers, as Eric stood up, heading off to start his search.

Wandering down the hall, he turned left and found a bathroom. He walked into the stark white bathroom, neutral tones fitting out the room with a few stark candles and a pristine cabinet.

He sighed, not holding any hopes, as he bent down to open the small cabinet. Methodically searching the drawers, he found nothing.

Eric kept going, room for room around the house until he walked into what seemed like the master bedroom. Taking a quick scan around the room, he found an adjoining bathroom, this time with some actual colour in it.

Emerald green towels accentuated the feature tiles, which were offset by again, white tiles. He made his way over the large mirror which hung on the left wall, below it the basin and cabinet.

Opening each door and drawer, he scanned through the contents, finding only hoards of make-up, soaps, beauty products (for both men and women, he noted) and all the hygiene products; not one prescription medicine in sight. Standing slowly, Eric walked back into the bedroom, gazing slowly around the room. `This is ridiculous, we know that this prescription is somewhere around here,' he thought angrily.

His eyes stopped on the chest of draws against the right wall, across from the door. "Most women hide things they don't want found in their intimates draw," came the voice from the door.

Turning around quickly, he found Jo standing there, his field kit in her hand, a small smile on her face, "Makes it awkward for strangers to go digging." She continued, taking a step in the door.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, recovering from her sudden appearance.

"Got sprung early, found a few things that I thought you might want to see. So, when I called the lab and they told me you were here, I made my way over. Didn't want you to get have all the fun." She said casually, meeting Eric at the drawers.

Placing his kit on the ground, she pulled a pair of gloves from her jacket pocket, before turning back to the wooden chest. "So, you haven't found the prescription yet. Did the security footage show up anything of interest?" She asked, pulling on her gloves, as they both turned and started to go through the draws.

"Yes, but it all means nothing if we can't find the medication," Eric replied.

They worked silently until Jo smiled, pulling back, "Got something," She bent down and retrieved the camera from the kit, before standing back up and snapping off the double shots.

She stepped back, reaching in to pull out a prescription bottle, turning it around to read the label. "Nifedipine tablets, commonly used to treat high blood pressure. They are also sometimes used as an antidote to tranylcypromine, patients are required to carry it at all times in case they accidentally react to any foods they happen to eat."

Eric smiled at her, "You've been doing your research."

"Well, when you are in the hospital, it's kind of a good place to start." She said, pulling out a plastic bag, "You want to print this before I bag it?" Jo turned to Eric, holding the bottle by the bottom.

He nodded, "Yeah," Eric replied, bending down to gather the printing brush and powder, as Jo set down the bag on the draw top and placing the bottle on top of it.

She stepped away; watching him carefully as he delicately moved the brush around the whole surface of the bottle, painting it with the dark powder. "We've got a few good friction ridges, one clear print, and a couple of smudges."

Jo leaned back in to photograph the bottle as Eric returned the tools to the kit and pulled out the ruler, holding it up against the evidence.

"So," Jo said, snapping off the shot, "we have the antidote, but no poison. Where do you think she's hidden it?" She let the camera fall back against her chest.

Eric pulled out the lifters, peeling the good prints off the bottle carefully. "Could be anywhere in this house," he commented, pulled the clear plastic off the bottle carefully and then pressing it back down to the white card.

Once finished, Eric scanned his eyes around the room, before he paused and walked over to the chair in the corner. "You keep your medication in your handbag, right?" He said, over his shoulder to Jo.

She nodded, crossing her arms, still awkward at the topic. "Only out of necessity, why? You think she's still got them stashed in the handbag she used on Wednesday?"

"Just a theory," He replied, going through the pile of clothes and bags that lay on the chair. Jo leant down to the field kit and pulled out the stills taken from the café security. She flicked through them to find one of Louise leaving the café; her bag slung over one shoulder.

She walked over to Eric, watching him search fruitlessly for the tan leather shoulder bag that the suspect was sporting in the still. She glanced around the room, before heading over to the walk in robe in the corner.

Pulling her mag light off her belt and pulling the sheer curtain aside, Jo shone her torch around the dark corners of the closet. Taking a step in, she heard Eric walk up behind her.

"Anything?" He asked, as Jo continued to meticulously scan around.

"Maybe," she said, her eyes narrowing as she stepped left, shining the light beam in the corner before picking up the camera and taking two photos. She then bent down to reach behind the draws that were against the wall to her left. Stepping back to her teammate, she was clutching the prized bag in her left hand. "Here," she said, handing the new evidence over to Eric as they stepped back into the bedroom.

He placed it down on the ground as she picked the camera back up and snapped off the evidence shots. Eric walked over to the kit and came back with the scale ruler, putting it down next to the bag and waited in anxious silence as Jo snapped another double shot.

"Alright, take a look," Jo said, holding the camera down as Eric bent down to open the bag, Jo following soon after, holding the torch up to illuminate the inside of the bag.

Eric carefully rummaged around in the bag, pulling out all the contents one by one. Receipts, lipsticks, small mirror, address book, a comb, her appointment book, and then finally after much searching, a small silver pillbox. He held it up, Jo photographing it smiling.

He pried open the engraved box, to find six small pills staring back at him. "Those our murder weapons?" She asked him, as he frowned.

"I don't know; we still need to find that prescription bottle." He said, as they both stood back up.

"Does she have a side table or even a study maybe?" Jo asked him, glancing around the room again.

Eric walked across from her to the bed, standing at the end to look at the two tables framing the bed, "Which one do you want to bet is hers?" Eric said, as Jo moved to stand next to him.

"I don't know, maybe the side that is reading `Bride Stripped Bare'?" She replied, shooting him an amused look. He walked to the left side of the bed, opening the small draw on the table.

"Here we go," Eric said, pulling out an orange bottle, pharmacist label facing up at him. "Mrs Louise McKenna, prescription for Parnate tablets. Take one daily at night, filled on August 24th, last month."

"Want to print that too?" He nodded, as they repeated the whole process over with the new evidence. "We've got her," He said minutes later, pulling up from comparing the prints on the letter, to the ones on the bottles.

Making their way downstairs, they met back up with the waiting women in the kitchen. Louise McKenna was standing against the counter top, nursing a cup of coffee. Yelina was standing opposite her, watching the woman carefully.

"Ms McKenna, we have found a few things that we would like to talk to you about." The woman nodded, smiling brusquely at the two CSI's.

They stood at the kitchen counter, as Jo and Eric placed the two medication bottles, the pillbox (which they had also printed) and the photograph of the letter and highlighted prints found on it.

"Ms McKenna, we know that you drugged Mr Johannsen with your anti-depressants," Eric placed a series of photographs from the security footage down in front of her, showing Seton leaving the table, her gathering up her handbag, rifling around in it, pulling out the pillbox and finally her with her hand over his drink.

He continued, "And we matched the fingerprints on the pillbox and medicine bottles to the prints taken from you when you were arrested 20 years ago for shop lifting."

Jo placed her ten card and arrest record down in front of her.

"Drugging someone, knowing that the medication could kill him, is criminal negligence resulting in homicide. But we can arrest you for first degree murder." He kept his dark, hard eyes on the woman, who was clearly struggling to maintain her composure.

Yelina walked over, "He came here, that night, after you met with him for lunch. He knew something was wrong."

Jo cut her off, "You watched him, from the front door, as he struggled up the steps, vomiting and barely able to walk. He was feverish, sweating and had a severe headache. And you stood at the door as he died, right there on your doorstep."

All three officers watched her in silence, each with barely concealed disgust on her face. The woman shook her head slowly, swallowing hard. "No I didn't..."

"Your husband sold you out Mrs McKenna," Yelina told her, crossing her arms across her chest. "He told us that you had a visitor that night. That you saw your security light go on out the front and you said you would go and have a look. Jason said that you were away for about 20 minutes, during that time, he heard the doorbell. He said that you told him that it was a delivery person, who had the wrong house."

Louise was now twitching, her arms crossed tightly around her body, her eyes refusing to meet any of their vehement stares.

"You had the antidote, you knew what was wrong and all you did was stand there and watch." Eric pressed her, knowing she couldn't keep silent for much longer.

The woman smiled up at him, her teary gaze finally meeting his. "I just wanted him out of her life. That was all. She was too good for him, and who had to clean up the mess when he dumped her?"

Her voice rose, fury colouring her face, "I did! And Jeanne was so close to just jumping back into bed with that bastard! He treated her like shit, and she was just going to forgive him!"

Louise was staring at him in a compassionate plea. "I couldn't let her make the same mistake. I just couldn't!" She said, as Yelina walked over and pulled her hands behind her back, handcuffing her.

Eric and Jo watched silently as the Detective escorted the woman out. "Takes a special breed of person to just watch someone die," Jo said softly, a frown pulling her face down.

Eric nodded, "Yeah, and it takes a special kind of breed to catch them at their own game." He turned to her to throw her a small smile.

"What do you say we pack up, head back to the lab and have one of those drinks you gave me?"

Jo smiled back, "You can, I'll just stick to water."

"You're no fun," he teased back, slowly collecting up all their evidence into his kit.

"Get used to it Delko." Jo replied, snapping off her gloves with a smile.

* * *

Horatio walked slowly into the break room, having emerged from his office after hours of self induced confinement. It was still Sunday, he noted, as he walked over to the coffee machine and poured himself a cup.

"Making coffee handsome?" Calleigh said from the door, walking in smiling. He turned around to capture her small, catching grin, her eyes shining (but not to their brightest, he noticed).

"For you," He said, offering another cup, as he poured the hot beverage into it. She smiled graciously, murmuring a soft "thank you" before picking up the sugar.

Heaping a teaspoon into her mug, she then sipped her coffee, sighing almost thankfully. "That good huh?" Horatio teased, sipping his own.

"Not as good was watching Scott Hamill get booked. That was a joyous sight," she replied, smiling at the memory.

"I can imagine," He said softly, dropping his gaze to his coffee. She looked up to study him, concern flooding her features.

"Are you alright Horatio?" she asked earnestly, causing him to look back to her. He paused, before smiling softly, a small nod.

"I'm doing much better than I was," he replied honestly.

"Must be the coffee," she teased, smiling softly.

"More like the company," He shot back. She blushed softly at his comment.

"Thank you Horatio." She replied softly, ducking her head to avoid his clear, watching eyes, studying her softly.

"No Calleigh, thank you." Her head shot back up, her eyes meeting his.

"You are very welcome," she replied, a bright smile capturing him.

"Hey, do you guys know whose beer that is in the refrigerator?" Speed said, walking in the door and sitting down at the table.

Horatio broke his gaze from Calleigh's, furrowing his eyebrows. "What beer?" He asked the younger man, who had pulled off his lab coat and slung it over the chair next to him.

"There's like, a whole case of beer in the fridge, hidden in the back."

"That's mine Speed, and don't even think I'm going to share it with you," Eric said from the door, walking in to cross over to where H and Calleigh were.

"Eric, why do you have beer in the office refrigerator?" Horatio asked, moving down the bench a little so Eric could make a coffee.

"Sorry H, it was a present, and I didn't have time to drop it at my apartment, so I put it in the fridge, just to store it until I was heading home." He replied, turning back to his supervisor.

Horatio nodded before looking back to Eric. "Next time, I would appreciate it not being kept there,"

"Not going to be one H," Eric replied.

"How did your case finish up?" Calleigh asked, crossing over to the table and sitting down opposite Speed.

"The best friend did it. She didn't like that her friend was thinking about dating our vic again, so she killed him."

The others nodded, "How's Jo?" Speed asked.

"Fine thank you," Jo said, making her way into the room to stand just inside the door.

"Hey, what are you doing here? I thought that you were going to be kept in hospital until tomorrow?" Calleigh said, smiling at the younger woman.

"I played nice, got the all clear and went and helped Eric finish up the case." Jo replied.

Speed frowned, "I thought that you were meant to take it easy?"

"I was, but I needed something to keep me busy in hospital." She said, smiling.

"Right," Speed shrugged, shooting Calleigh a confused look.

"Who wants to go for a drink?" Eric asked, placing his now empty coffee cup in the sink and turning back to the others.

"Are they any places open on a Sunday night?" Jo asked, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Sure, this is Miami, there's always some place open." Speed shot back.

Jo raised her eyebrows, "this city is going to take some getting used to." She said, sighing.

"Don't worry, it grows on you," Calleigh said, standing up and taking her cup to join Eric's in the sink.

They started to filter out of the room, one by one; "I'll meet you out the front, alright?" Speed said, picking up his lab coat and moving out.

"Hey man, wait up," Eric said, quickly ducking over to the refrigerator, removing his case of beer before following his friend out towards the locker room.

Calleigh glanced at Horatio before making her way to the door. "I'll just finish my report for you to sign Horatio, then I'll get going, see you tomorrow," She said, looking quickly at Horatio before turning to Jo, "See you Jo."

The serologist smiled softly at her. "See you later Calleigh," Jo replied. Calleigh smiled brightly at Horatio before heading off towards her lab. Jo sighed, frowning before turning to Horatio, "Lieutenant," she started, before pausing again.

Horatio smiled softly at her, waiting for her to continue.

"I just wanted to tell you again, how sorry I am about what happened, it's just," Jo stopped, her eyes narrowed before she dropped his gaze, "September is just not a good time of the year for me." She finished, meeting Horatio's compassionate blue gaze.

He smiled softly at her, "Me either." He replied, before placing the mug down on the counter and moving out of the room.

Jo followed his exit with her eyes, even more confused and amazed by her enigmatic supervisor. She smiled softly, before heading off towards the locker room.

As she reached the locker room, she bumped into Speed and Eric, who were now making their way out. "Are we going to see you later?" Eric asked, trailing behind Speed who was holding a motorcycle helmet.

Jo smiled before shaking her head softly, "Sorry, I'm still under orders to take it easy, so I'll see you tomorrow morning."

The two men nodded, smiling softly at her. "Yeah, see you tomorrow," Speed said, as he and Eric started to walk down the hall.

Sitting on the bench, Jo leaned against her locker, closing her eyes momentarily. "Hey, don't fall asleep on me, I'm not half as strong as Eric, so don't rely on me to carry you out to your car," Calleigh said from the door, as she made her way in.

"Sorry, it's just kind of hit me, that's all," Jo said, pulling herself upright. The blonde smiled, heading over to her locker just down from Jo. "Calleigh, I'm sorry if I offended you on Tuesday. When I made a few harsh comments about the whole gun-loving thing you guys have here. I didn't mean to discount you or your job; you are very good at what you do. But it's something I just don't understand or like all that much. Even after four years, I still don't get it." She said contritely. "I'm sorry Calleigh."

Jo dropped her gaze, sighing. Calleigh paused, before walking over and sitting down next to her. "You didn't really offend me, I understand that some people just aren't as obsessive as I am." Jo smiled at her comment, "but thank you anyway."

Jo looked up to meet Calleigh's blue gaze. "Hey, between my saliva and your shooting, who has the worse obsession?" Jo commented flippantly.

Calleigh smiled brightly, "To each their own," she said, walking back to her locker and taking out her bag. Jo smiled at her comment, her eyes dropping back down to the floor. "See you Jo," Calleigh said from the door, pausing.

"Bye," Jo replied, not really looking back to the blonde.

"Hey Jo," Calleigh called from the door, causing the brunette to pull her eyes up to hers, "Now that you're here, we are finally gaining on the boys. I sure that, between you and me, we could take them."

Jo laughed softly, "I'm sure we could," she shot back as Calleigh smiled at her before making her way out of the locker room.

The new CSI sighed out, staring at the now empty room. She smiled softly before leaning back against her locker, closing her eyes again.

* * *

"Hey, you still here?"

Horatio looked up from his desk to see Calleigh standing in the doorway, ready to head home. He bowed his head before moving back up to regard her again.

"Just finishing up, sorting out a few reports," He said, motioning to the pile of papers to his left.

"Well, by all means," she said, walking forward to place her report on top. "The ballistics and firearms report for the Hamill case." She said, keeping her place in front of his desk and crossing her arms gently around her body.

"I will read it before I leave tonight," He said softly, glancing quickly over it.

"You had better, I went swimming in the Glades for there to be one." She said indignantly, smiling at him.

"And I will be forever grateful for your tenacity Calleigh Duquesne," Horatio said, his soft azure gaze pulling up to meet hers.

She paused, caught out by his comment before her lips pulled slowly into an embarrassed smile. "Lord you are not good for my ego Horatio Caine," she said jovially, her accent thick with teasing.

He smiled at her, studying her blushing cheeks and self-conscious stance tenderly. She looked back at him uncomfortably before clearing her throat. She nodded at him as she moved back to the door.

"Take care Calleigh," He called to her back, just as she reached the door. She turned back to him, a confused frown on her face.

Pausing, she then smiled; "You too handsome," Calleigh went to turn back around, before reconsidering and meeting his questioning gaze. "Horatio, if you ever need to talk," She trailed off, uncertain.

He nodded softly, smiling gratefully, "I'll be sure to take you up your offer."

She threw him a bright smile before nodding and heading out the door. Horatio smiled gently, savouring the light left by her presence.

He glanced back down to what he was doing before she had entered. He traced gently over the picture of Raymond and the remaining members of the Caine family, a bittersweet smile etching his features.

He righted the picture back on the desk, before gathering his belongings, and walking out, switching off the light as he went.

THE END


End file.
